


Black Heart [One Piece x OC]

by RavenRunning



Category: One Piece
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), information broker, plot?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 50,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26260735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenRunning/pseuds/RavenRunning
Summary: They call her a storm, captivating all those left in her wake.She just wants to be left alone.An information broker with a reputation that precedes her. Whether that reputation is deserved or not remains to be seen. Follow Onyx as she goes about her 'everyday life' in the One Piece world.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	1. Prologue

Mark scampered quietly over the roof of the enormous flour barn. The soft tap of his stocking feet was easily drowned out by the clanking steps of the armoured guards as they moved along their regular patrol routes below.  
The boy grinned, shaking his long bangs out of his eyes as he picked up the pace. A few more warehouse rooves and a drain pipe-slide later he had disappeared into the moonlight soaked fields.   
The silver ocean of grain expanded around the testing facilities for many flat miles and served as the perfect cover for those who knew how to move without leaving trails through the wheat.  
Now that the hard part was over, Mark let his body settle into a relaxed jog. He still had about an hour to go and needed to conserve the little energy he had left.   
The sheaves slid silently by as he wove an untraceable path through the fields. Mark always enjoyed the feeling of wheat on his skin. When he was younger he would often come out to the fields and spend the day just sitting among the stems, hidden away from everyone in the village; no one else dared to trespass on Baron Timo’s property. And as a result, he had picked up on a few things, things that the Baron did not want the public to know.   
Things that made Mark useful.   
Things that made him money.  
A sudden rustling made the boy’s hair stand on end and he instinctively dropped to the ground. He held his breath as another figure abruptly appeared out of the silver field.  
“Don’t worry. It’s me,” a woman’s voice whispered.  
Mark let out a sigh and hauled himself back to his feet, brushing away the dirt that had stuck to his baggy sweatshirt.  
“You’re about as quiet as I am. I thought we were supposed to meet under the East Street Bridge?” he smirked at the black silhouette as she shrugged her shoulders.  
“I got impatient. Did you get the other half?” her voice held a note of doubt that made Mark puff his chest out in indignation.  
“You bet!” he said proudly, slipping his hand into his pants pocket and taking out a single piece of paper, “Hey!”  
The woman had snatched the paper away faster than he could react. He’d blinked and missed it.  
“Good work,” her face shifted and Mark saw her darkly painted lips lift into a smile, “I’m impressed.”  
The boy swelled under her praise and lowered his face to hide his smirk.  
“Well, I’m done here,” the woman slid the paper into a pocket of her long, dark coat before reaching out to him, “Thank you for your cooperation, Mark.”  
He shook her hand, enjoying how soft and warm her skin felt against his own.  
“I’m heading out,” she said when they stepped apart, “What’s the best way to get to the harbour from here?”  
Mark’s eyes lit up and he nodded.  
“Stick to the fields until you get to the main road. Cross it and then follow the path along the western edge of town until the first crossroads and take that left. There’s a lot of crates along there that you can use to dodge the night patrol. You gotta time it right though,” he said, pointing out the direction she should go.  
“You sure that’s the safest way?” she asked.  
“Yep,” Mark popped his lips in emphasis.  
“And you’re sure the information you got is the real deal?”  
“Uh-huh.”  
The woman paused and glanced at him, but the glow of the moon behind her cast a shadow over her face. She lifted her arm and tossed something through the night.  
Mark snatched the object out of the air and smiled when he heard the clink of coins.  
“Then I’ll be seeing you, kid.”  
The boy lifted his finger to his forehead in a mock salute.  
“See ya, lady,” he said as she moved off and disappeared into the fields without a sound.  
Mark stayed where he was for a few long minutes, only moving when he was sure he was alone. His hand dove into his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a mini transponder snail.  
“Hey, you there?” he whispered into the receiver.  
“Yes.” A voice crackled over the line.  
“She’s on her way. She should walk right into your hands,” Mark smirked.  
“Good. You can collect your pay after we’ve captured the spy.”  
“Roger that,” Mark turned off the snail and returned it to his pocket.  
He looked around and frowned. Since the lady had met up with him much earlier than they had planned, instead of being a block from his house, he was a good hour’s walk away through the fields.  
Why did she meet me here anyway? He let out a sigh as he started the long trudge home, She was pretty strict with the timeline…  
Then a sneer twisted his mouth.   
It didn’t matter. He’d done his part. He’d got her money.   
And soon he would get another payday for delivering her right into the hands of the Flour Baron who ruled this island.  
Serves her right for trying to steal our secrets.   
Mark turned his eyes towards the harbour. She should be there about now. At this distance he could see a few ant-sized figures running along the shore, most likely the Baron’s goons getting ready for their ambush.   
Mark squinted towards the bay and frowned.   
He’d hear the sounds of the struggle from here, he was sure he would. Why was it still so silent?  
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Then two things happened at once, both incredibly worrying to the young man.   
A sudden explosion rocked the silence of the night and an orange glow intruded on the edges of Mark’s vision.   
And, perhaps most worrying, the cold touch of metal on the back of his neck sent a jolt down his spine.  
*Click*  
“I told you I’d be seeing you, kid.”   
Mark’s mouth gaped, gulping for desperately needed air.  
“Shit! What are you doing here?!” he tried hard not to let his voice shake.  
“Well, I had the feeling you were lying to me so I went back to get what I needed. I may have forgotten that flour was so flammable…” her voice held a tinge of regret.  
Mark’s eyes widened and he spun around.   
The woman didn’t lower the gun, pressing it against his forehead as he gazed upon her black silhouette outlined by the angry orange flames that were consuming the barn he had been running across only minutes before.  
“You… you bitch!” Mark spat, “That was the largest warehouse! Now the villagers will have to work triple-time to make quota!”  
The woman’s shoulders rose and fell and she pushed the gun harder against his clammy skin.  
Mark’s mouth was suddenly dry as a desert.  
“Ple-please don’t kill me!” he stammered, “I can show you the real safe way out! It was all Baron Timo’s plan! He made me betray you!”  
The woman let out an angry hiss.  
“If there’s one thing I hate most in this world,” she bent down and her finger tensed around the trigger, “Its liars.”


	2. Detour #1

A small boat bobbed steadily towards the simmering port city. The sun was beating down on both land and sea, making everything sparkle and glisten with an almost blinding light. A figure stood tall at the bow, feminine curves almost hidden beneath a heavy black trench coat.

A dry wind blew sparse sand particles into the woman’s face as she lowered the spyglass that had been pressed against her eye. A frown turned her darkly painted lips down. Then she snapped the spyglass closed and stuffed it deep into one of her many pockets.

Whirling around, her coat snapping at her ankles, the woman adjusted the sail of the refurbished dinghy and moved to the stern. Her combat boots tramped heavily on the planks as she reached the rudder and nudged it, bringing the nose of her boat closer to the city on the approaching horizon.

“I hate the desert,” a low growl left her lips and she pulled the wide brim of her black sun-hat down over her eyes.

The stifling heat was already building under her dark turtle neck and heavy black cargo pants. She knew her preferred colour of clothing was the absolute worst thing to be wearing in such a climate, but she wasn’t going to change her signature style for a (hopefully) quick visit.

 _Ugh._ Why had she even come here?

She let out a frustrated groan and glowered at the water.

 _Right_. To see if Crocodile had any work for her.

She had just finished her mission and was on her way back to her client. But she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some extra cash. Who knew when she’d be in these waters again?

The woman let out a short sigh and brushed her long ebony hair over her shoulder. She cast one more glance at the approaching town before spinning on her heels and entering the ship’s cabin.

The single room was surprisingly colourful when compared with the all black attire of its sole occupant. A deep blue shag rug covered one corner, serving as a nice, soft wake-up for her toes when she got out of the cot set against the wall. This sparse sleeping area was curtained off from the rest of the room by a soft pink sheet, which was drawn back at the moment. The small sink and stove-top that served as the kitchen occupied the wall to the right of the door, and a large desk and fully stocked bookshelf, solely composing of black leather-bound notebooks, sat against the left. In the center of the room sat a sturdy, if somewhat worn, table and chairs.

The woman walked over to the table and picked up a thick black notebook from the scuffed wooden surface.

She flipped the book open to a marked page and ran her eyes over the messily scrawled writing that filled the paper.

“Most of the Agents should be here already,” she murmured as she grabbed another notebook off the shelf and quickly left the cabin.

The boat nudged closer to the dock and the woman jumped out, securing her vessel with many thick-roped knots and giving plenty of hearty tugs to ensure that it wouldn’t be going anywhere.

Her dark eyes traveled over the worn paint on the prow and she smiled at the faded green letters. _The Flying Dodger_. Then her gaze moved to the slightly rotting boards and the rusting pulleys and she let out a sigh. She would have to get him spruced up before she left Paradise.

“Stay safe, baby,” she whispered.

Her hand moved down her coat, feeling the familiar bulges at her belt. She nodded and rolled her shoulders before turning and walking down the pier. Her clothes were already soaked with sweat and it was only going to get hotter.

“Damn desert,” she growled as her boots hit the sand.

She’d only gone a few steps before something caught her eye. A glint, brief but unmistakeable, flashed from behind some rocks up the coast.

Her gut told her to investigate, so she turned and slogged up the sandy beach in the opposite direction of the town. It didn’t take long to reach the rocky outcrop hiding the subject of her curiosity from view, and even less time to get around it and satiate said curiosity.

“Oh?” she cocked an elegant eyebrow at the vessel floating before her, “Why is Mr. 3 here so early? I haven’t heard about Dorry and Brogy getting beaten yet…”

“Why are there so many marines here?!”

“I don’t know, just head for the harbour!”

The black clad woman stepped aside as a group of colourful characters forced themselves through the packed street.

“Usopp, where’d Chopper go?!”

“Eh?! He isn’t with you?!”

“I’m right here!”

A man with an extraordinarily long nose ran by, followed by small, brown, furry creature, a woman with orange hair, a blond man and a green haired man, and then… what was Miss Wednesday doing here? She was supposed to still be at the Twin Capes.

_So she’s finally made her move then… that could explain Mr. 3…_

Dark eyes narrowed and followed the blue haired girl as she and her group sprinted towards the water. The woman quickly took out her notebook and flipped to an empty page, scribbling a few lines of text and a doodle of the Princess of Alabasta’s current appearance before snapping the book closed and shoving it deep into a pocket. If Sir Crocodile didn’t already know about this, and she had the feeling he did, she could tout it as a peace offering for barging in on him unannounced. It wasn’t a full-proof ticket into his good graces, but it was something.

The noisy group disappeared around the corner and the usual market business of Nanohana resumed. The woman in black ducked into a barren side street and let out a sigh. Here was some peace and quiet. She wove through the backstreets of the desert town and found herself walking along a railing overlooking the waterfront. Her footsteps paused at the sight of a small pirate ship sailing suspiciously close to shore. She frowned, not recognizing the sheep figurehead or the straw hat wearing skull of the flag.

“A straw hat… wasn’t there a new rookie who beat Arlong?...” she mused aloud, reaching into her pocket in search of her notebook.

“Say, weren’t your friends looking for you?”

“Yeah, but Ace, what are you doing in this country?”

The woman stiffened and peered into an alley on her right. Two men stood in the center of the path, the shattered remnants of a barrel littering the ground between them. She lifted an eyebrow at the damage but then quickly surveyed the men.

One, more of a boy than a man, wore a red vest, blue shorts, and a straw hat... a very familiar-looking straw hat… Onyx frowned. The other figure, definitely a man, wore no shirt, black shorts, and an orange, cowboy-like hat.

“Huh? You mean you didn’t get the message I left for you on Drum?” the orange hatted one asked.

Her eyes focused on the shirtless man as he spoke, immediately zoning in on the large purple tattoo covering his back and recognizing the symbol. It had been years since she had visited the Moby Dick and she didn’t recognize him. The straw hat guy had called him Ace. So this must be the new second division commander, Fire Fist Ace of the Whitebeard Pirates.

_What is he doing here?_

“Drum?”

“Yeah. It’s no big deal that you missed it,” Ace passed a canteen to the straw hatted boy, “I’m in these waters on minor business so I thought I might look you up.”

The woman wondered why she’d stopped to listen to this boring conversation in such intense heat. She had places to be. She pulled the brim of her hat down and walked down the alley.

“’Scuse me,” she muttered as she approached the men.

Fire Fist quickly looked up and backed away, but the boy in the straw hat instead took a step forward; straight into her path.

“Whoa!”

The woman stumbled but managed to latch her right hand onto a surprisingly sturdy arm.

“Oh! Sorry about that, lady,” the boy stepped back.

She stared down at him for a moment, taking in his young features and wry smile. Then a smirk ghosted over her black lips.

“Well it’s nice to hear an honest apology for a change,” she said, stepping back to observe him better.

The boy seemed confused by her comment. She knew she should be on her way now, but this tantalizing honesty had piqued her interest.

“Who are you?” she squinted at him.

“My name is Monkey D. Luffy!” the boy beamed, “I’m going to be King of the Pirates!”

The woman paused, waiting, but when nothing happened she blinked in surprise.

“Well that’s a lofty goal,” she gave Luffy a piercing stare, “I wish you luck.”

“Thanks! What’s your name?”

She debated for a second before shrugging. She wasn’t trying to be discreet.

“You can call me Onyx,” she nodded.

Luffy smiled widely.

“Nice to meet ya!” he exclaimed, “I like your hat. Is it your treasure too?” He tapped a hand on his own straw hat.

“Onyx?” Fire Fist suddenly leaned forward, reaching out to her. The woman startled and slapped his hand away with her own, but this didn’t seem to faze the young man. “Sounds familiar. Isn’t there an information broker who goes by that name?”

She lifted an eyebrow and shot the man a glare.

“There might be,” she tilted her head slightly, “How’s old Newgate doing these days?”

Ace blinked in surprise at the mention of his captain and Luffy simply looked confused.

“I’m a member of the Whitebeard Pirates now,” Ace turned his attention briefly to his friend.

“Whitebeard?”

“This is his mark. It’s my pride,” Ace gestured to the tattoo on his back, “Luffy, why don’t you join the Whitebeard Pirates? Your friends can come too, of course.”

“No.”

“Hahahaha, I figured not. Just thought I’d ask,” Ace shook his head before turning back to Onyx, “The Old Man’s hale and hearty. Shall I give him your regards once I finish up my business?”

A prickling sting tickled her elbow and Onyx sent a dark glare at the man before spinning around. It was time to get going if she wanted to make it before sundown.

“Do whatever you want,” she muttered over her shoulder.

Once she had rounded the corner and made sure she wasn’t being followed she pulled out her notebook and wrote slowly, making sure her writing was especially legible.

_Monkey D. Luffy._


	3. Waste of Time

It was surprisingly easy to break into the Rain Dinners Casino. She could have gone through the front door of course, but those loud machines always gave her a headache.

Onyx dropped her lock pick into a breast pocket of her trench-coat and slipped through the side door of the large pyramid-crowned building.

She moved swiftly down the white halls, her boots making dull thuds on the red carpet.

 _If I remember correctly_ , her teeth came down lightly on her bottom lip as she rounded a corner, _his office should be…_

A pair of ornate doors appeared ahead of her and she smirked. She gave them a swift knock before pushing them open without waiting for an answer.

‘Office’ was a bit of an understatement. White marble stairs led down from the doors and ended in elaborate checkerboard tiles. Floor to ceiling windows filled the room with the dull blue light that filtered through the water of the Rainbase Lake. A beautiful chandelier hung from the arched ceiling, but all the candles were thankfully unlit.

The coolness of the underwater lair was a welcome relief from the burning desert.

“Well, well, well,” a deep voice rumbled up from the shadows, “This is a wonderful surprise.”

Onyx’s lips twitched. _Maybe I won’t need that bribe_.

She opted to ignore the comment and descended the stairs, taking her time as she surveyed the room once again.

A large desk sat far back in the shadows, with an equally large figure sitting behind it. Onyx’s nose wrinkled slightly at the musk of cigar smoke and she fought a cough. A Banana Gator swum lazily by the windows, casting a bored stare into the room.

“To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?” the figure behind the desk stood and reached for a shelf full of a variety of bottles, “It’s been a while since we last spoke, Onyx. Wine or whiskey?”

Her lips curled and she stopped just short of the desk.

“Whiskey. And it’s only been a year or so, Sir Crocodile,” her voice was smooth as she watched him pouring two glasses of amber liquid, “I know you’ve been keeping busy.”

The man straightened and offered her a drink. Onyx took the glass and sent the burning liquid down her throat, letting out a satisfied grunt as it scorched her insides. She’d needed that kick.

“You always have the best stuff,” she smacked her lips as she set down the empty glass.

“Kuhahaha,” the sand man chuckled as he lit a small desk lamp, casting an ominous up-light onto his grey skin and glinting hook, “And you are always so appreciative.” He returned to his seat and leaned back. “So what brings you to my humble abode? You aren’t known for stopping by for casual conversation.”

She took a moment to savour the flavour of the alcohol lingering on her tongue before nodding.

“I was in the area and thought I’d see if you had any work for me,” she said.

Crocodile eyed her for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

“My plans here are nearing completion,” he said, “I am in the process of sending my final orders. But once things have calmed down I will have need of your skills again. Come back in a month or so.”

A frown ghosted over Onyx’s lips. So she’d put up with this stupid heat for nothing? Great.

“Alright, thanks for the drink,” she bowed her head slightly and turned around, “I’ll leave you to your scheming.”

“Kuhaha,” she heard the tap of footsteps and felt a large body move behind her, “Leaving so soon? Why don’t you stay for dinner? My treat.”

Onyx tilted her head back and glared up from under the brim of her hat. She wasn’t so short to be dwarfed by the man, but she hated when people stood over her. Crocodile smirked and let out a smoke filled breath. This time she couldn’t hold in her cough and she quickly turned away.

“Ah, I forgot about your weak lungs.”

Onyx narrowed her eyes.

“My lungs are fine!” she snapped between coughs, “I just can’t stand the smell!”

Crocodile frowned at her before stubbing out the cigar in an ashtray on his desk.

Onyx lifted a surprised eyebrow and turned her body ever so slightly towards him.

In the past, she would have went on her way. But for some reason her feet didn’t want to take that first step towards the door.

Crocodile took full advantage of her hesitation.

“What have you been up to this past year?” the sand man kept his gaze on the ashtray, “Though you seem to have eyes and ears all over the world, I can hardly get any information on your own whereabouts. The last I heard you were in the New World.”

Onyx swept her hair over her shoulder and let out a scoff. Why was he interested in where she had traveled?

She really should get going.

“I’ve been all over and back again,” she muttered, “And I try not to draw attention to myself. If you wanted to contact me you could’ve called. You have my number.”

His thin eyebrows lifted but she couldn’t read his expression.

Onyx tilted her head to the side. This was not like Crocodile. Usually their meetings would be brief; straight to the point and then ended just as quickly.

Onyx allowed her curiosity to win over and she turned around fully.

“So what are your final plans here?” she leaned forward on the balls of her feet, “Maybe I know something that can help you out.”

Crocodile’s features didn’t flicker, but somehow a sense of satisfaction filled the air around him. The Warlord pulled a chair out from the shadows and placed it behind her.

“Please, take a seat,” he rumbled and held out his flesh hand.

The woman let out a short sigh and then allowed her right hand to be taken and her body to be sat down. She wasn’t going to turn her nose up at a few extra minutes out of that scorching sun.

A smile moved across the sand man’s lips and he returned to his own seat.

“I’m afraid that, due to the imminence of my plans, I cannot divulge any details,” Crocodile said, resting his hook on the arm of his chair.

He gave her a smirk, which Onyx allowed herself to return.

She knew full well of the target of his decades-long campaign.

It was _she_ whom Crocodile had first come to in his search for information on the ancient weapons. And it had been _she_ who had pointed him in the direction of this desert kingdom. But after that she had made her visits with the sand fruit user few and far between.

And for good reason.

Onyx looked over the man before her.

His large, square jaw was slightly clenched, probably craving a cigar. His sleek hair, still black despite his experience, glinted every now and then under the flickering light, though not as wondrously as the rings on his fingers and the large golden hook attached to his left arm in place of a hand. His dark eyes were fixed on her and that wry smile was still on his lips. Onyx focused on those eyes, letting their darkness pull her in. Crocodile tilted his head slightly and a loose strand of hair fell across his temple.

He wasn’t put off by her not so subtle observations, in fact he seemed quite pleased. He gave his shoulders a slight roll and sat back in his chair. Even under the heavy fur-lined cloak he always wore she could see the shift of his well-sculpted muscles.

Oh yes, this man was dangerous.

Intoxicatingly so.

Onyx blinked when she realized Crocodile had started speaking.

“-However, if you have any information regarding the rebellion…”

He poured and offered her another glass of whiskey, which she eagerly took. This time she nursed her drink properly.

“I’m sure you already know what I have to say,” she muttered, sending him an annoyed glare as a pleased smirk crossed his face, “Princess Vivi, who is employed by you as Miss Wednesday, is currently running around with some foreign people, probably pirates. The rebel forces have moved to Katorea and are ready to begin fighting at any moment. They will most likely start riding tonight or tomorrow at dawn. Oh, and Zala is only waiting for Mr. 2. He’ll probably arrive tonight.”

“You visited the Spider Café?” Crocodile’s voice held no hint of surprise.

Onyx nodded and took another sip.

“The fourth pair are there, and Bones as well…” she trailed off and sent a sharp look at the sand man, “He’s a good man. Loyal.”

Crocodile returned her stare with a relaxed countenance.

“You are right, I already knew all that,” he shifted forward.

Onyx smirked and rested her elbow on her knee. Time to pull out the trump card.

“Bentham is probably late due to his failure at killing Mr. 3,” satisfaction rose in her chest as Crocodile’s eyes widened, “He and Miss Goldenweek are already in Alabasta. Galdino will likely come to try and regain your favour after his screw-up.”

The Warlord watched her thoughtfully for a moment.

“I did not know that,” he admitted.

His hand shifted towards a cigar box sitting on his desk, but then he stopped himself.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow.

“That’s a relief. Now I’ve repaid you for your hospitality,” she said, running her finger around the rim of her glass, “You were always such a well-connected guy. I’m curious as to why you keep asking for my services.”

Crocodile sent her a sly smile.

“It’s true that I have many people capable of getting me the information I need,” he said, “But you have such a far reaching network… even I am impressed.”

Her smirk grew a fraction.

“Oh? What an honour to have you impressed by humble little me,” she said, sipping her drink and frowning at the small amount left.

“Kuhahaha,” Crocodile’s laugh echoed through the spacious room, “You underestimate yourself, Onyx. Your information is worth ten times the norm, twenty if you deliver it with that beautiful smile.”

The woman’s smirk fell and she rolled her eyes, fighting the blush rising on her cheeks.

“I know my own worth, Sir Crocodile. My prices are non-negotiable,” she snapped, taking another sparse sip of whiskey, “However,” she leaned forward and let her voice slip into a suggestive purr, “Flattery does put you into my good graces.”

The Warlord’s eyes flashed with… something… and he mirrored her movement; their noses were now hovering inches apart.

“Does it now?” Crocodile rumbled, lifting a hand to play his finger through a lock of her hair.

Onyx curled her lips and tilted forward ever so slightly. The scent of whiskey on his breath washed over her and she had to fight her urge to lean in further.

“Oh yes, Sir Crocodile,” she hummed, “I always take extra care if I know my client will be happy to see me.”

A hungry smirk crossed the man’s face and his eyes were fixed on her lips.

“Is the alcohol finding chinks in that armour of yours, Black Heart?” he murmured.

Onyx’s cheeks grew warm and she shifted back a bit. She suppressed a gasp as a sharp pain seared her chest; a fresh reminder that she knew better than to give in to temptation. No matter how much she may want otherwise.

“Don’t push your luck,” she snapped, “I’m only lingering to avoid the desert heat. Your opinion of me doesn’t matter.”

Crocodile’s smirk fell away as she retreated. Onyx briefly met his gaze before looking away.

A sharp knock broke the silence before it could become uncomfortable.

“Enter,” the sand man called up his permission.

Onyx sat back in her chair as a click signalled the doors opening. She tilted her head back slightly to see under the wide brim of her hat.

A woman stood at the head of the stairs. Her black, shoulder-length hair hung loose around her tanned face and her white coat and cowboy hat almost glowed in the dim light of the room.

Onyx frowned as Miss All Sunday stepped elegantly down the stairs. The previous times Onyx had visited she had managed to avoid this woman, but it seemed her luck had run out. The assassin just rubbed her the wrong way.

Then again, all secret agents did.

“Sir Crocodile,” the woman said slowly, “I have important news.”

Onyx glared her dislike across the room as Nico Robin approached.

“That’s my cue,” she stood and swept her long hair over her shoulder, “In a while, Crocodile.”

A soft intake of breath preceded another chuckle.

“Goodbye, Onyx,” the man said, “As always, it’s been a pleasure.”

As she made her way toward the stairs she saw the approaching agent stiffen slightly.

“Onyx?” Miss All Sunday turned to her with slightly raised eyebrows.

Onyx stared her down with a firm glare and didn’t stop walking.

“Nico,” she muttered her brief greeting as she brushed by.

The woman’s eyes widened and fear showed momentarily as her gaze snapped to her boss.

“I did not tell her, Miss All Sunday,” Crocodile said in an amused tone, “I learned long ago not to be surprised by that woman’s knowledge.”

Onyx allowed herself to smirk as she began the trek up the marble staircase.

“Hmm,” Nico’s voice quickly slid back to its smooth lie, “The Straw Hat Pirates were sighted in Nanohana this morning and headed out towards Yuba. Princess Vivi is with them.”

Onyx frowned as her boot slammed into the step and she jerked to a halt.

The Straw Hat Pirates? Was that the group of people who were with the Princess?

She registered the silence in the room and glanced over her shoulder to see both figures watching her. Nico was frowning, while Crocodile’s gaze was curious.

“Those pirates…,” Onyx spoke slowly, “Are they rookies?”

“Yes,” Crocodile said after looking her up and down, “Their captain is Monkey D. Luffy, his bounty a mere 30 million beri. I will dispose of them shortly. Were you worried about me, Onyx?”

She sent her iciest glare across the room before whirling back around, taking comfort in the swooshing of her coat as it fell around her body.

“Not hardly,” she snapped, then, for some unknown reason, her mouth kept moving, “But… don’t underestimate him, Crocodile. Something about that boy is… strange.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she could hear the sneer in his voice as the area below her belly button began to tingle.

“Well fuck you too!” she snapped.

 _Serves me right for trying to help,_ Onyx scowled and stomped up the stairs before he could say anything else.

The doors slammed closed behind her and she grumbled all the way back outside.

 _Aaaand of course it’s still light out_ , she groaned as the setting desert sun blinded her.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Crocodile watched the trench coat disappear as the woman wearing it left without as much as a backward glance. His fist clenched lightly in frustration.

He’d done something wrong. At the last second he had made her angry.

_Damn it._

He let out a low sigh before taking out a cigar and lighting it.

“I didn’t know you had contact with someone like her,” Miss All Sunday spoke coolly but Crocodile could hear the curiosity in her voice.

He inhaled and took a moment to enjoy the feel of the smoke filling his mouth.

“Yes, I was surprised when she accepted my first request,” he said, eyes still fixed on the closed doors, “She was instrumental in establishing Baroque Works. You should thank her for your job.”

He looked down and saw those icy blue eyes widen slightly before flickering with silent anger and … was that fear? Crocodile stifled his smirk as he exhaled smoke. For a woman like Nico Robin to feel threatened by Onyx…

If only he could get a hold on Black Heart. At least she had stayed for a drink this time. She’d never done that before…

In his mind’s eye he watched her ebony hair fly over her shoulder as she tossed her head.

“Information brokers are notoriously untrustworthy,” Miss All Sunday said, taking a seat in the now empty chair before his desk.

“You needn’t caution me,” Crocodile snapped, his thoughtful mood falling away and being replaced with irritation, “I know full well who I’m dealing with. Don’t get comfortable, you should be preparing for the others’ arrival.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Onyx let a smile lift her lips as she finally saw the sea again.

“How was your day, baby?” she hummed as she undid the ties and stepped back onto the Flying Dodger, “I hope it was better than my waste of time.”

She pulled up the sail, noting a few holes in the fabric, and turned the prow towards the horizon.

“Come on,” she breathed in the fresh, salty air and smiled, “Let’s get you fixed up. It’s been a while since your last checkup. It’ll be nice to see the old windbag again.”


	4. Detour #2

Onyx marveled at the beauty of the city flying past her as she rode her rented yagara up to Dock 1.

No matter how many times she stopped in at Water 7, it always took her breath away.

Her eyes widened slightly as they rose to the elaborate fountain erupting from the center of the tiered city. The massive streams of water soared upwards before tumbling back down and being carried away by the many channels and water-ways leading down to the ocean.

The yagara let out a whinny as she pulled up beside the most affluent Dock of the shipbuilding city and Onyx hopped out.

“Thanks,” she said and tossed the animal one of the treats the rental man had given her, “Wait here for me, please.”

She made her way up to the main gate and the crowd of shouting people who were standing at it.

“Lucci! Is Lucci there?! He’s so handsome!”

“Isn’t Tilestone so manly?”

“Look at the size of that beam! How can Kaku handle it all by himself?!”

Onyx rolled her eyes and pushed through the simpering women and gawking men. When she finally reached the front gate she had to grab on to the rails so as not to be squished as the crowd pushed forward.

“Mister Lulu! Look over here! _Oh my god I think he saw me!!_ ” a woman began hyperventilating in her ear.

Onyx leaned away from the enthusiastic fan and peered into the large yard beyond the gate.

The carpenters and shipwrights were hard at work, their sweaty bodies glistening under the noonday sun. Her eyes roved over the bulging muscles and shirtless chests until they settled on a denim jacket decorated with orange flames.

Onyx fought the smile tugging at her lips.

“Hey, you old windbag! Long-time no see!” she lifted her voice, hoping that it would carry above the cacophony behind her.

The target of her shout immediately stiffened and jerked his head towards the gate. A smile broke onto his face when he caught sight of her dark silhouette. Onyx watched as he hurriedly passed the rope he was pulling on to another man and started walking over, taking the cigar out of his mouth and squishing it under his boot heel as he came.

“Hey! Don’t call Paulie that! He’s a foreman!”

“Who is she? How does she know Paulie?”

Onyx ignored the comments and gave a small nod as the blond reached the gate and pulled out a ring of keys.

“Alright, back up you guys!” the foreman called over the noise, “Only payin’ customers allowed in.”

The crowd shifted and retreated slightly, allowing Onyx to step through the gate as Paulie pushed it open.

“Your fans are rabid as ever,” she muttered as he locked the gate again and ushered her into the yard.

“They get worse every year. Honestly I prefer the debt collectors,” Paulie’s smile was still on his lips as he led her towards one of the outbuildings, “It’s nice to see you again, Onyx. I had a feeling it was about time for you to stop by.”

The woman brought her hand up to her hat, tilting it back a bit in order to watch a huge boom swing overhead, carrying a large mast destined for a half constructed galleon sitting on the other side of the shipyard.

“It’s nice to be back,” she breathed.

Then a shadow flit around the edge of her vision and her bright mood immediately darkened.

“No, I take it back.”

“What’s with the long face?” a boyish laugh came from over her shoulder, “Would a kiss cheer you up?”

Onyx spun around and glared at the square-nosed man, smirking when his smile faltered.

“Wanna see what happens if you try?” she snapped, raising her fist.

“Easy, Onyx,” a hand fell on her shoulder and Paulie stepped between them, “Kaku was just sayin’ hi.”

“Well he can say it from over there, like Lucci,” she growled before sending her glare around Kaku and onto a tall man leaning against a pile of wooden planks.

A white bird fluttered down and attempted to alight on her shoulder but she swiftly brushed it away.

“Get lost,” she muttered, “I don’t have the patience for you right now.”

The pigeon let out a coo before returning to his master’s shoulder. Lucci merely brought his hand up to his signature top hat and tipped the brim towards her.

Onyx jerked her head into a curt nod before spinning around and grabbing the scruff of Paulie’s jacket.

“Come on. Do you want my money or not?” she grumbled, dragging the man toward the small office where she usually filled out her paperwork.

“Why don’t you like Kaku and Lucci?” Paulie asked as he looked through a massive filing cabinet for the right papers, “They’re swell guys. I mean, Lucci’s an ass, but he’s a good worker and doesn’t cause trouble. And it’s rare for them to acknowledge anyone, especially a woman, during work hours. You should feel lucky, you distracting harlot.”

“They rub me the wrong way,” Onyx growled, crossing her arms and sitting back in her chair, “I can’t trust them. Not like you… you pompous old windbag.”

She knew the usual insult sounded half-hearted, but that’s because it was.

Paulie’s shoulders stiffened and he paused halfway through reaching for a folder. His face turned slightly towards her and she saw the light pink that dusted his cheeks.

“Th-that’s awful nice of you to say,” he mumbled before resuming his search, “Ah! Here it is.”

He thumped a stack of papers on the table and held out a pencil.

“Care to sign your life away?” his smile returned and Onyx couldn’t help the twitch in her lips.

There was just something about this man that made it very hard to keep up her signature scowl.

“With pleasure,” she took the pencil and pulled the papers towards her.

“Great,” the blond plucked a cigar from his jacket and headed for the door, “I’ll go check out the ol’ Dodger. Did you dock at the usual pier?”

“Yes,” Onyx muttered, her eyes already fixed on an article detailing the costs of different types of wood, “But I had to go a few docks further down, there was a marine ship at my favourite spot.”

“Those bastards,” the man let out a huff, “I’ll tell ‘em off for ya.”

_Such a sweetheart._

Her mask slipped so gently that she didn’t even notice.

Onyx lifted her head and smiled warmly at the blond as he opened the door and took a step into the yard.

“Thanks, Paulie.”

His eyes widened and his cheeks suddenly flushed scarlet.

“N-no problem,” he cleared his throat and bit down on his cigar, “See ya later.”

The door clicked closed and Onyx went back to the papers.

“Sorry about before,” Kaku’s voice was satisfyingly low as she stepped out of the office and closed the door.

“Your fake charms may work on other women, but I can see straight through you,” Onyx snapped as she set off for the main gate.

“Ouch, you’re harsher than I remember,” the long-nosed foreman rubbed the back of his neck as he fell into step alongside her, “How come Paulie’s the only one who gets your sweet side? I saw that smile… gosh darn near melted my heart.”

_Smile?_

Onyx’s boot heel crunched into the ground as she fought her urge to punch him.

“Because Paulie is an _honest_ man,” she growled, sending him a frigid glare.

Kaku fell silent and quickly turned his gaze to his feet.

“ _Coo coo_ , well that seemed to strike a chord,” a flurry of feathers snapped around her ear and she looked up to see Lucci striding along on her other side with Hattori perched on his shoulder.

“Yes, it was supposed to,” Onyx snapped.

“ _Curoo_ , such a cold woman,” Hattori raised his wing at her while Lucci regarded her with a curious stare.

“I give what I get,” she let out a huff and quickened her pace, “If you want me to be nice then show me you deserve it.”

“But we’ve been nothing _but_ nice to you!” Kaku’s voice teetered on the edge of a whine.

“ _Coo,_ that isn’t what she means,” Hattori said.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow at Lucci, noting the predatory stare he was giving her, and quickly averted her gaze again.

She cursed her cheeks for choosing this moment to flush.

_Damn those eyes._

“Hey! Watch out!”

A shadow fell across them and Onyx looked up to see a large beam swinging wildly through the air. The cradle it had been resting in had snapped at one end, sending the huge log plummeting down.

“Eek!” she stepped back in an attempt to dodge out of the way but her foot caught on something and she pitched towards the ground.

A strong arm wrapped around her waist and Onyx was pulled against a very firm chest. The smell of sweat and sawdust almost covered a sweet, citrusy scent that tickled her nose and she couldn’t help tensing her fingers against the well-toned muscles under her hand.

“Expect a call soon.”

Her eyes widened at the deep voice that purred into her ear. _So that’s what he sounds like._ A shiver ran down her spine; of pleasure or fear she didn’t know.

Probably both.

“ _Curoo! Coo!_ Are you alright?” Hattori was flapping his wings in her face and she quickly pulled away.

Lucci’s arms relaxed, letting her step back without any hindrance.

“Y-yes,” Onyx sent a careful stare at the pale man, cursing the heat on her cheeks again, “I’m fine.”

 _Bastard doesn’t have to look so smug,_ she scowled, _he probably planned that._

“That was close,” Kaku appeared at her side again, “We’ll take care of this, Miss Onyx. You should probably be on your way.”

The woman cast a glance at the fallen beam before glaring at the two men once more.

“Yes, I should,” she said, “Goodbye.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“I’m seriously considering giving up,” Kaku let out a defeated sigh as they watched the woman clad in black disappear through the crowd at the gate, “She just won’t let me in.”

“ _Curoo_ , she’s harder on you because she thinks there’s still hope,” Lucci’s expression was thoughtful as Hattori spoke, “But I win this round.”

“Yeah,” Kaku grumbled, “That was a bit dangerous though. And now I have to help clean up _your_ mess.”

The ghost of a smile curled Lucci’s lips as he met his fellow foreman’s eyes. He took a breath and enjoyed the slight warmth that still tingled along his abdomen.

“ _Coo_ , worth it,” Hattori ruffled his chest feathers.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Onyx leaned against the rail and stared calmly out at the water lapping at the docks. A gull soared overhead, crying out once before moving off to search for a meal elsewhere. The distant hum of Water 7 was muted, overwhelmed by the soft murmur of the ocean.

Onyx let out a sigh and closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet.

It didn’t last long.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

“I don’t know why you hang on to this old thing,” Paulie muttered as he nailed down some new boards on the foredeck, “You’ve had so much work done that it’s a completely different ship.”

Onyx opened her eyes and straightened, stretching her arms up over her head.

“I know,” she sighed, running her hand along the rail, “But he’s my baby. We’re a team. I’ll never give up on him as long as he doesn’t give up on me.”

Tap! Ta-

The hammering stopped and she looked back to see the foreman watching her with soft eyes.

“You know… you’re the only woman I know who can appreciate a ship the way we shipwrights do. And the only one who knows how to dress properly for that matter.”

As he spoke his eyes roved down her almost completely covered body.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and walked over, hopping up to perch on the rail above him.

“Well then you _need_ to meet more women who sail,” she smirked down at the shipwright, “Anyone who lives on the sea has to appreciate their ship. And you really shouldn’t be so sensitive when it comes to how women dress. To each her own.”

Paulie scratched behind his ear with the back of the hammer.

“Y-yeah, well… all the pirate and marine women that come here dress like prostitutes,” his face suddenly flushed a deep red, “They’re the reason society is going to the dogs! Wearing skirts up to their a-asses and p-practically n-no sh-shirts!”

Onyx jumped down and rested a hand on the blond’s head.

“Whoa there, Casanova,” she hummed, “Don’t go getting a nose bleed all over my boat.”

Paulie stiffened under her touch and the colour slowly drained from his cheeks. He let out an embarrassed sigh and pulled a few nails out of his pocket.

Onyx let him focus on his work and entered her cabin. She took off her hat and coat and hung them on the back of a chair.

“Let’s see what I have,” she mumbled as she tied her hair up in a high ponytail and began to rifle through her cupboards.

“This is great, Onyx!” Paulie exclaimed enthusiastically between bites as he gobbled down her veggie curry.

“Well I suppose you’ve been subsisting on rice and soy sauce again,” she rolled her eyes as he reached for seconds, “You have a real gambling problem, you know that?”

The blond didn’t even pause in his eating.

“Yeah yeah, what can I say,” he grinned, “I love the thrill of making a bet.”

Onyx had to fight hard not to roll her eyes again.

“But you always _lose_ those bets,” she sighed, “At least stop playing poker. You’re such a bad liar.”

“What? That’s where all the good money is,” Paulie muttered, frowning at his plate.

Onyx smiled sadly. The poor guy really did have a gambling addiction. She let out a sigh and rested her chin in her palm. It was best to just drop it. She didn’t want to ruin her visit.

Her attention returned to her plate.

“So, how long will it take to get seaworthy?” she asked, picking out a pepper and munching on it.

Paulie waved his hand dismissively, still engrossed in his meal.

“You treat ol’ Dodger good, Onyx,” he said, “I’ll be done with the repairs by tomorrow night.”

Her eyes lit up at the prospect of setting out once again. She really had to get back to her client.

“That’s great, Paulie,” she said as he looked up, a blush tingeing his cheeks, “Will you let me feed you while you work?”

The blond smirked and leaned his elbow on the table, squinting at her.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting me to take it out of your bill again?” he chuckled.

“Of course,” Onyx gave him a wink.

“Hehe, fine by me,” Paulie winked back and stood up, “I’ll be here bright and early. I hope you like waking up to the sound of hammers and cursing.”

“Music to my ears,” Onyx hummed.

A strange sensation bubbled up in her throat, escaping her lips as a soft chuckle.

Paulie’s expression shifted rapidly from amusement, to shock, to full on tomato red. He quickly nodded and all but ran towards the door.

“’Night, Onyx.”

She frowned. _What’s got him all flustered?_

“Goodnight, Paulie.”


	5. Warming Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just popping in to let you know that since this one of my older works, you may see some things that ended up being part of some of my other works (I am a creature of habit :P)

The icy air clawed down her throat as Onyx sucked in a desperate breath.

She was running.

She was running and she couldn’t remember why.

The snow underfoot muffled her frantic scrambling as she sped through a grey and formless landscape.

Where was she?

What was she running from?

Why did her heart feel like it was being gouged out with a thousand knives?

Onyx rested a hand on her heaving chest only to pull it away when she encountered something sticky. A scared whimper left her lips upon seeing her palm smeared with red.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she stumbled to a halt. Her extremities began to go numb as a shadowy figure emerged from the hazy background.

Suddenly she remembered.

She remembered everything.

Her heart stuttered and the pain in her chest grew ten-fold.

“You-?!” it was her own voice that broke the heavy silence.

The figure lifted a hand and beckoned to her.

_Come here. Come with me._

Onyx tried to run to him, but her legs were suddenly buried thigh deep in the snow drifts.

“W-wait!” she let out a panicked shout as the man turned away, his cloak shrouding his silhouette in a feathery darkness.

Her struggles only sunk her deeper into the snow. It was now up around her waist.

Her chest.

Now her shoulders were engulfed in the heavy drifts.

She tried to lift her arm, tried to reach him, but the man walked steadily away until he disappeared into the grey shadows at the edge of her vision.

As she let out a final scream, a pair of pink glasses appeared out of the whiteness and hovered over her vanishing head.

“Onyx! Onyx! Wake up!”

Her body stiffened as someone grabbed at her shoulders.

A scream ripped from her throat and she shot upwards.

“Whoa there!” a familiar voice grunted as she wrestled against the arms trying to restrain her, “Calm down, Darlin’! Yer havin’ a nightmare.”

A nightmare.

Onyx blinked her surroundings into focus and recognized the pink curtain and the small cabin beyond.

The hands on her were removed and the mattress shifted.

Onyx felt her muscles relax as the scent of wood oil and sawdust washed over her. She let out a low whimper as pain seared across her chest, but it was slightly dulled by a smile that tugged at her lips.

It had been a while since she’d seen him… she couldn’t help but be thankful for the dream.

“That was a rough one,” Paulie’s gruff voice anchored her to the present.

“Y-yeah,” Onyx took a deep breath and ran a hand over her aching chest, feeling her heartbeat steadying, “Sorry about that. Did I interrupt your work?”

The blond scoffed and sent her a quick frown.

“You didn’t interrupt anything, Darlin’,” he chewed on the butt of a lit cigar, “Ah, sorry. I rushed in here without thinking.”

He removed the cigar and stubbed it out on the floor.

 _It must have been bad if he’s calling me that_. Onyx stretched her arms up over her head and let out a groan. A slight sting pricked her knee. _Damn, why do the little ones hurt more whenever it’s Paulie?_

“Well, now that I’m up-,” she shifted her legs and Paulie stood to give her room, “What would you like for breakfast?”

“You know I hate makin’ requests,” the blond grumbled and shoved his hands deep into his pants pockets.

Onyx swung her legs out of the bed and squished the blue shag carpet under her toes. She let the familiar sensation soothe her. The pain in her chest subsided to a tolerable level.

“How does… pancakes sound?” she hummed, gathering her hair into messy bun.

“Delicious,” Paulie mumbled, still giving her an anxious stare.

Onyx let out a sigh and stood, making sure her baggy black pyjama pants and long sleeves were covering her body fully before brushing the curtain aside and striding for the kitchen.

“Don’t worry about me, Paulie,” she said as she pulled out a bowl and some flour, “I’m used to it. But… waking up with someone else there was… it made it a lot better. Thank you.”

She didn’t turn around, focusing instead on beating some eggs and then mixing the ingredients together.

“You know…” Paulie hesitantly cleared his throat, “If you stayed… I could always be there.”

Onyx’s hand froze, bowl hovering over the warming frying pan. She could feel her heart beating against her ribcage as temptation reared its beautiful head.

_If I stayed…_

Then the figure from her dream drifted through her mind.

Rule #1.

She let out a quiet sigh and shook her head.

“Sorry, Rope Man,” she mumbled, “Nature of the job, you know. I have to keep up my contacts…” she poured the first drops of batter into the pan and listened to it sizzle.

A low sigh from behind her told her that Paulie was now at the table.

“Was worth a shot,” he muttered under his breath.

Onyx gave the pancakes a sad glance before she flipped them.

“Don’t worry, Paulie… When I do eventually settle down…” her voice was soft but she knew he could hear her, “This area is near the top of my list. There’s an abandoned little island a few leagues west of here that looks promising.”

She sensed the man approaching her and carefully put the pancakes onto a plate before turning to find him standing right behind her.

“Here you go,” she said, but then paused when she saw his frown, “What?”

Paulie’s hands slowly came up and clenched lightly on her shoulders. He met her gaze and Onyx felt her heart thump at the cautious warmth in his honey-brown eyes.

Had his grip always been so comforting? Why was there a flicker of anger in his expression?

“You better mean those words, Darlin’,” Paulie rumbled.

Onyx blinked and a flush moved slowly over her cheeks.

She lowered her eyes.

“You know I could never lie to you,” she mumbled.

His brow relaxed and he gave her a soft smile.

“I just didn’t want to hope for nothing,” he muttered before taking the plate and returning to the table.

Onyx gave his back a gentle stare before turning and preparing her own meal.

As Paulie was finishing his second helping, footsteps could be heard coming up the dock outside.

“Good morning!” a bright and boyish voice called, “I brought the wood you wanted.”

Onyx stiffened and leapt up from her seat.

“Why is _he_ here?” she growled, rounding on the foreman currently swallowing his last pancake.

Paulie flinched and held up his hands in a pleading gesture.

“I-I just needed some stuff from the yard,” he stammered, “Kaku had some free time and offered to bring it down.”

“You _know_ I don’t like strangers touching my baby!” Onyx gritted her teeth in an attempt at composure and cast a hateful glare at the door.

“Hello?” Kaku called from outside.

Paulie ran a nervous hand through his hair as his teeth worked hard against his unlit cigar.

“He ain’t a stranger, Darlin’,” he muttered, “You know his work is as good as mine.”

Onyx let out a sigh and shook her head.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, “Just get out there and make sure he doesn’t ruin anything. And for heaven’s sake light that thing up! You’ll end up eating it if you don’t stop that.” She jabbed her finger at his cigar.

The blond nodded and quickly left the cabin.

Onyx sat back down and listened to the muffled voices of the men discussing their plans for her boat. When the sounds of hammers and saws began filtering in through the walls she relaxed somewhat and forced herself over to the sink.

After cleaning up the kitchen, she quickly changed from her pyjamas into her usual dark turtle neck and cargo pants. Then she grabbed a bag from under her bed and sat down in front of a small mirror on her bedside table.

After dabbing on some moisturizer, she pulled out a tube of lipstick and retouched the black adorning her lips, then refreshed her mascara and eyeliner. Finally, she took out a hairbrush and smoothed out her locks until they flowed down her back in a black waterfall. It looked like her roots were still in good shape… but she should get some more supplies soon, just in case.

“There we go,” she muttered, giving herself a once over before grabbing her hat and jacket and putting them on.

Ready.

She lifted the curtain on the small window set in the door and peeked out. When she was satisfied that a certain long-nosed man was nowhere to be seen, she opened the door and stepped onto the deck.

Onyx took a deep breath of fresh sea air and rolled her shoulders.

_Time to lay down the law._

After fixing the iciest look she could onto her face, she marched around the corner and found the two men inspecting the remaining rotted planks at the bow. Both looked up as she approached and Paulie’s face paled when he saw her expression.

“Oh shit! Kaku, sorry, I forgot-!”

Onyx lunged her hand out and felt it connect with Kaku’s cheek with a satisfying _SLAP_!

“Ow!” the man staggered slightly from the force of the blow, “What was that for?!”

He sent her what could almost be called a glare and gently massaged the already red patch of skin.

Onyx leaned forward until her own nose barely brushed his.

“Rules.” She stated, prodding his chest, “You don’t come aboard without my permission. You don’t do anything unless Paulie or I have agreed to it. You absolutely do _not_ enter the cabin.”

She splayed her three fingers in his face and bore her glare into the young man.

Kaku stepped back and gave her a playful smile, his angry aura dissipating as quickly as it had come.

“I profoundly apologize, Miss Onyx,” he gave her a deep bow, “May I have your permission to remain aboard your beloved vessel to aid in its repairs?”

Onyx’s cold stare softened a tad and she nodded when he righted himself. He was being genuine.

“Fine, just don’t break any more rules,” she said.

Kaku gave her a small salute before turning to help Paulie.

Onyx watched him like a hawk for the first two hours, frowning whenever he and Paulie joked and handing them the tools they needed.

For the third hour she listened intently to Kaku’s stories of working in the shipyards and held up the boards they needed to nail.

By the fourth she had relaxed enough to leave them unsupervised as she went to prepare their lunch.

“Here you are, boys,” she motioned for them to sit down as she adjusted the platter in her hands.

They eagerly put down their tools and joined her on the deck.

“Miss Onyx, I had some ideas for the new rigging system,” Kaku said, holding up a paper with a few sketches on it.

She gave it a quick glance and shrugged.

“Paulie knows what I like. See what he thinks,” she muttered, thrusting the plate of sandwiches to the both of them.

A flicker of surprise passed over Kaku’s face as he stuffed the paper back into his pocket and took his lunch.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” he said quietly, glancing from her to Paulie, “How did you two get to be so close?”

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and Paulie scowled at his fellow foreman from under a slight blush.

“Ain’t none of your damn business,” the blond growled.

Kaku gave a nervous chuckle before starting on his sandwich.

Onyx tilted her head to the side and ran her eyes over the young man’s face. She still didn’t trust him one bit. There was a shadow lurking behind those bright eyes that reeked of blood and lies.

But…

 _Now why was there a ‘but’?_ Onyx frowned. _There shouldn’t be a ‘but’. There’s never been one before…_

She could always rely on her gut and her devil fruit when it came to judging people. Unfortunately, right now her gut was hesitating for some reason.

And as for her devil fruit…

Tapping her fingers thoughtfully along the rail, Onyx abruptly stood up and entered the cabin, only to appear again seconds later with a fishing rod and a bucket. She cast over the rail and settled down to wait for a bite.

The day, which had started bright and sunny, had become overcast with the slightest hint of rain to come.

“I hope the bad weather holds off until you guys are done,” Onyx said as she craned her head back.

Kaku followed her gaze and shook his head.

“This’ll blow over quickly,” he said confidently, “The most we’ll get is a slight drizzle. Don’t worry, Miss Onyx.”

She tilted her head and watched as he finished his sandwich and stood, stretching his arms above his head. His orange vest rode up a little to reveal a sliver of a surprisingly defined six-pack.

“If you say so,” she hummed and turned her attention back to her fishing rod.

Paulie picked up the empty platter and walked behind her, patting her shoulder on his way to the kitchen.

“Keep it up Kaku,” he chuckled, “She’s warming up to you.”

Onyx stiffened and sent a glare at the jean jacket as it disappeared around the corner of the cabin. When Paulie came back out, she made sure to jab out the end of her rod, sticking it sharply into his thigh.

“Ouch!” he growled, “Damn it, woman!”

Onyx gave him a malicious smirk as he limped to the stern where Kaku was watching with an amused smile.

“So you _do_ get rough with him,” he mused, earning another frigid glare.

“I told you, I give what I get,” Onyx snapped, turning her attention back to her rod as it bent under the bite of a fish.

She quickly pulled in a bright purple mackerel, a species specific to Water 7, and dumped it into her bucket.

“Then I hope I can give you some of what Paulie has,” Kaku’s voice became soft.

Onyx didn’t respond, but his words turned over in her mind as she pulled in two more fish. She gave a satisfied nod to the bucket. Dinner would be fried mackerel with some potatoes and… hopefully she still has some carrots in the back of her cupboard.

A grunt from behind her caused her to jump slightly and she turned to see Kaku wrestling with the rigging. She found herself staring at the man’s back, watching as he yanked the rope free of the rusty pulleys and coiled it on the deck. Paulie was working out of sight around the edge of the cabin, but the tap of his hammer and the occasional swear could still be heard.

Onyx bit lightly down on her lip as she made her decision.

“Hey, Kaku,” she drew his attention and he straightened to look at her.

“Yes?” his tone was soft and his delivery hesitant.

Onyx lifted an eyebrow and chose her next words carefully.

“You seem pretty at ease in this city. How long have you lived in Water 7?”

Kaku smiled and nodded his head.

“Five years, I believe,” he jovially replied.

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Onyx tucked a strand of black hair behind her ear, “Why did you come to here?”

A shadow flickered through Kaku’s eyes.

“For work.”

 _A little sensitive aren’t we?_ She cocked an eyebrow.

“Work? So have you always wanted to be a shipwright?” an innocent enough question.

The long-nosed man shrugged his shoulders, shifting his weight from foot to foot. But she could tell her inquiries had him interested.

“No actually,” he admitted, “I hadn’t even considered it before I came here. But it seems that I’ve found my calling. At least that’s what Mr. Iceberg seems to think.”

At this Onyx’s eyes narrowed and her fingers clenched around her fishing rod.

_Don’t you dare pretend to be on his side!_

She managed to stifle her glare but decided it would be best to make a direct attack.

“Speaking of Iceberg; would you ever hurt anyone in this city?”

Kaku’s eyes widened but he managed to hide his suspicion. He didn’t answer, instead opting to cock his eyebrow at her.

Onyx fixed him under a firm stare. Kaku’s lips pressed together before he shrugged.

“At the moment I see no reason that I would.”

Onyx continued her stare for a few moments before letting out a sigh.

“I see,” she frowned.

She had expected such an answer. However, she was surprised at his honesty. His ability to dance around the truth had improved remarkably, but there was no underlying threat to his words, unlike Lucci’s.

After listening to Kaku all morning she could see that he was genuinely happy to be living a ‘normal’ life, even if it was for dishonest reasons.

“Miss Onyx? Is there something on my face?”

A light blush dusted Kaku’s cheeks as he scratched his chin nervously.

She blinked and quickly turned away, grabbing her bucket and moving towards the cabin.

“No,” she muttered.

She was about to reach the door when the tap of approaching footsteps drew her attention. She looked back to see a man walking down the pier, making a bee-line for her boat. His light purple hair swayed around his face and a pair of goggles covered his eyes. Her gaze ran up his bare chest to the dark shoulder pads emblazoned with pink stars.

The Franky Family?

“Hey! Big Sis Onyx!” the man lifted a hand and waved.

“Hello, Schollzo,” she called, setting down the bucket and moving to the rail, “What brings you all the way out here?”

The man reached the dock beside her ship and gave her a happy smile.

“We just heard you were in town,” he said, “You should come over and have a party!”

Onyx shook her head.

“I appreciate the offer but I’ll be leaving just as soon as Paulie and Kaku finish repairing my boat,” she stuck a thumb over her shoulder.

Schollzo’s eyes widened slightly and scanned the area behind her before he leaned down and motioned for her to come closer.

“Big Bro sent me over,” he lowered his voice, “He’s looking for some really top class materials and hears there’ll be an auction soon, but he can’t find out where and when. He thought maybe you’d know.”

Onyx tilted her head to the side.

“An auction? I might have heard something,” she said slowly, “What did he send you with?”

Schollzo nodded and reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a bulky envelope and a small bag.

“Fifty thousand beri’s and a few things we found on our latest dismantle. It was an old merchant ship and had lots of ladies rooms. Big Bro thought you’d like ‘em.”

Onyx took the envelope and cracked it open, swiftly counting up the bills. She nodded. That should be enough to cover about half of what she owed Paulie. Then she reached out for the bag and peered curiously inside.

Her eyes widened.

The plain brown sack held three tubes of pink lipstick, some smoky grey eyeshadow, and a beautiful black comb. The lipsticks were a common brand, but the eyeshadow and comb were worth a pretty penny.

“This’ll do nicely,” she said, “Give Franky my thanks for his generosity.”

Schollzo smiled and nodded his head.

Onyx put the payment into one pocket of her trench coat and pulled her black notebook out of another. She snapped it open and leafed through her notes, taking a moment to find the information she was looking for.

“Here it is,” she muttered and tapped the page with her finger, “Underworld auction… what’s today’s date?... so in a week and three days’ time… in Pucci. Ask for Donovan at the sea train station.”

She snapped her book closed and nodded up to Schollzo.

“You can pass that on, right?” she asked, smirking when she saw him scribbling on his palm.

“Pucci… Donovan…” he nodded and then gave her a smile, “Thanks, Big Sis! We can always count on ya!”

Onyx rolled her eyes and waved him away.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t forget on your way back,” she said.

“See ya!” Schollzo chuckled as he left.

Onyx watched him go for a few moments before turning to the cabin door. She saw a stream of cigar smoke coming from around the corner and let out a sigh.

“Come on out, Paulie,” she said, “I know you were listening.”

The man barely hesitated before he stepped out and sent her a grumpy frown.

“Why do you gotta affiliate with those guys?” he muttered.

Onyx lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms as the old sore spot between the two of them was irritated once again.

“I’ve done business with them in the past,” she said, “Franky might be a thorn in your side but he has a good heart, and he pays me well for my information.”

Paulie continued to scowl at her and she put a gentle hand on his arm.

“Don’t worry so much,” she said, “If Iceberg can tolerate the Franky Family—,”

She cut herself off before complimenting the blue haired mayor’s ability to judge someone’s character. He was just as blind to the true intentions of Rob Lucci and Kaku, not to mention Kalifa, as he was when they first came to the city.

Paulie seemed oblivious to her sudden change in demeanor as he shrugged off her hand.

“Whatever,” he grumbled, walking away, “I gotta help Kaku with the rigging. Oh, and we’ll need to get you some new sails.”

Onyx looked up to the starry sky and then down to the plates and candles littering the deck. The Flying Dodger was not a large boat by any means, and having three full grown adults and a meal spread over him made that fact painfully obvious.

“You were right about the weather, Kaku,” Onyx said as she sat down beside Paulie and began to dish out the fish, “It’s an absolutely beautiful night.”

“Hmmm, yes that is exactly how I would describe you,” the young foreman replied nonchalantly as he took his plate.

Onyx froze, arm still extended to him, as she processed his words.

“Um… thanks,” she mumbled and sat back when she realized both men were staring at her.

Kaku managed to hide his victorious smile behind the collar of his vest. If he’d said that yesterday she would have punched him clear across the shipyard.

“Hey now, don’t go gettin’ all flustered by a little flattery,” Paulie grumbled as he reached for his own plate, “I thought you were immune to this guy’s shoddy pick-up lines.”

Onyx felt a blush move down her neck as she glared at the blond.

“I am!” she snapped, “ _That_ was an honest compliment.”

“Oh?” Paulie frowned and sent a glare across at Kaku.

“Hehe.” Onyx looked over to see the younger man chuckling behind his hand. “Ah, sorry. It’s just strange to see you so at ease.”

A thoughtful look passed over Onyx’s face.

 _Which one of us is he talking about?_ she wondered as her eyes moved back to Paulie.

It was true; she did feel totally at ease with this man. A warning flickered through the back of her mind but she chose to ignore it.

“Well, I think we clicked the moment we met, eh you old windbag?” she nudged Paulie’s arm with her elbow, “You’re the only shipwright in this whole city that I trust with my baby.”

“Tch!” the blond’s cheeks flushed and he turned his face away from her, “It’s damn annoying. I’ve got other things to do, ya know.”

“And yet you still help me out whenever I come by. I’m extremely grateful,” Onyx said.

Maybe it was the good food and the company.

Maybe the encounter during her last mission had rattled her more than she liked to admit.

Either way, Onyx felt her tongue loosening.

She watched the back of Paulie’s head for a moment before turning to Kaku. The long-nosed foreman blinked in surprise as she picked at her food before starting to speak.

“When I first set out to sea… well let’s just say I wasn’t as well versed in sailing as I am now. I put ol’ Dodger through way more than he deserved. By the time I finally hauled my ass over here to get him fixed I could see the water through the kitchen floor,” she stroked the deck beside her apologetically, “But every shipwright I asked told me he was unsalvageable and I should just buy a new boat.”

She reached over and pat the blond’s shoulder.

“Paulie was the only one who offered to try and do the job.”

“Only because I found you crying yer eyes out behind some bar,” the foreman grumbled, “How could I say no after that?”

Onyx shot him a soft glare, not noticing the surprised and intensely interested glance Kaku sent her way.

“I was going to leave out the embarrassing parts,” she muttered, “Like how the first thing you said to me was ‘Hey Lady, move it! That’s my favourite pissin’ spot!’” she did her best male voice impression and smirked triumphantly as Paulie’s cheeks burned.

“Hey!” the blond exclaimed, “I was pretty damn drunk that night! And I apologized as soon as I saw you cryin’.”

“You did give me a sincere apology,” Onyx nodded, “That’s why I decided to ask you for help. Honest people are hard to come by.”

Paulie grumbled something unintelligible and turned his attention to the fish on his plate.

“Anyway,” Onyx continued, looking over at Kaku, “That was years before you came to Water 7. And since then I’ve always come back here to get Paulie to fix up the Ol’ Dodger.”

“Hehe,” Kaku let out a low chortle, “Paulie approached you first? I find that hard to believe.”

“Hey!” the older man snapped, “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Kaku easily dodged the fist swung half-heartedly at his shoulder.

“You can hardly _look_ at a woman, let alone speak with one, without shouting about her being indecent,” he dropped the laugh but his tone was still playful, “Everyone’s been very curious about why you don’t act that way around Miss Onyx whenever she visits.”

“Wha-! You damn-! Onyx is different than the usual dames!” Paulie turned his head to blow a cloud of smoke away over his shoulder, “She ain’t a harlot that goes around parading her body like some sort of peep show! She’s as dependable as they come and won’t take shit from no one! And what woman do you know who can understand, hell even just _appreciate_ , the work we do? Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t lookin’ down on the girls in this town. But they got nothing on this one right here.”

He dropped his hand as if to point at the woman he was speaking of.

Onyx’s eyes were wide and she quickly gave up on hiding the blush warming her cheeks.

“Wow…. Th-thanks, Paulie,” she mumbled.

Kaku let out a low whistle and she flicked her gaze across to him. The light from the candles littering the deck glinted in his eyes.

“Now how the hell am I supposed to follow that up?” he let out a sigh and merely offered Onyx a soft smile.

The woman blinked a few times before allowing her lips to curl upwards, earning a shocked look from the long-nose.

The rest of the meal was eaten in comfortable silence and the small group spent a few moments stargazing as they let their food digest.

“Well this was a nice little visit,” Onyx stretched her arms over her head.

She stood and ruffled Paulie’s hair, pushing his goggles over his eyes in the process.

“Now I’ll be getting ready to sail so you guys should pack up your things.”

The blond lightly brushed her hand away before frowning and pushing the goggles back up.

“You’re leaving right now? Why not stay the night and set off at first light?” his eyes had a sad tinge to them and Onyx had to look away.

“I’ve already lingered here too long,” she said, gathering the dishes and moving towards the cabin door, “And my current client isn’t the patient sort. I don’t want to lose any more time.”

Within the hour everything was ready for her departure. Onyx joined the two men on the pier and handed Paulie the envelope Schollzo had given her and then counted out the rest from her own stash.

“That should cover everything,” she said as she pressed the large wad of cash into his hands.

Paulie frowned.

“You didn’t take out the meals…” he muttered, dividing the pile in two and pushing one half back at her.

Onyx blinked and began to protest but Paulie placed a rough finger over her lips. Her words caught in her throat and she flushed.

“You still owe the Galley-La Company thirty thousand beris, Darlin’,” he said in a gruff voice, “You better get back here to pay off yer debt. We don’t tolerate thieves.”

Onyx looked down at the sixty thousand beris in her hands. Then she lifted her face and gave Paulie a warm smile.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she said, staring somewhere at his nose, “Onyx always settles her debts. You can count on seeing me again.”

Then she turned abruptly to Kaku and pushed herself up into his face, tilting her head slightly to get around his nose.

“And Kaku,” she hummed dangerously, enjoying the shade of red on his cheeks, “Keep an eye on Lucci. If anything happens…,” she flicked her eyes almost imperceptibly towards Paulie, “I can be quite mean.”

Without waiting for his response, she whirled around and tugged the lines free, hopping onto the Flying Dodger and pushing away from the pier.

Onyx waited until she had put some breathing room between her and the glittering city before turning around. She waved to the barely distinguishable silhouettes of Paulie and Kaku as they stood on the dock.

The blond lifted his hand in a mock salute, his orange goggles flashing in the lights cast by the tiered streets of Water 7.

Onyx ignored the ache in her heart.

She had to admit she didn’t hate Kaku as much as she had… But she already had one person who made her dangerously close to breaking her number one rule. She didn’t need another.

_Don’t get attached._

Onyx shook her head, her bangs falling forward to hide her eyes.

_Fuck._

“Alright, baby,” she sighed as she hoisted the sail and scanned the stars for guidance, “Let’s go get our hard earned money.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Kaku watched his blond friend salute Onyx and felt something akin to jealousy move through his chest.

It was a good thing he and Lucci hadn’t invited Paulie into their little game; it was obvious who would have won in that scenario.

The undercover agent let out a short sigh before trailing his eyes over the dark sea that had just swallowed the small boat and the infuriatingly interesting woman who sailed it.

…

But Paulie wasn’t playing. And Kaku had just earned a fair few points.

Another flicker of emotion.

Guilt?

Kaku frowned. He had trained far too long and far too hard to allow himself to fall prey to such trivial feelings.

An image of Onyx’s face, her usual angry mask slipping away as she offered him a warm smile, flashed before his eyes and his frown deepened along with the sense that he was doing something horrible.

“Damn… just one day this time…” Paulie cleared his throat and turned, starting the long trek back up to the city.

Kaku quickly followed in silence, mulling over these strange thoughts.

Was Lucci also plagued by these… emotions? The black haired foreman was clearly just as invested in their game as Kaku was, his actions the other day proved that.

Another flicker of jealousy stirred Kaku’s chest. Why hadn’t _he_ thought of dropping a mast on her? Then _he_ would have been able to feel her warm body pressed against him and _he_ would have been the cause of her adorable, flustered blush.

Kaku shook his head in an attempt to silence these distracting thoughts.

Maybe it was because she’d asked him those questions… she’d been trying to get him to open up. Something she had never done before.

But in the end it was _she_ who had opened up to _him_.

Finally.

It had been 3 long years since he and Lucci had made their bet and this was the first time she had let down her guard around him.

It had caught him by surprise.

Yes, that was why his heartrate had increased and his cheeks had flushed.

He was simply surprised.

Her last words to him echoed around in his mind. Just how much of their plan did she know? And why had she bothered asking him those questions when he knew she already knew what his answers would be?

“Oi, Kaku.”

Paulie suddenly drew up short.

“Yes?” the long-nosed man stopped a few steps behind his technical superior.

Paulie’s shoulders tensed. He didn’t turn around.

“I… I wanted to thank you for helping out today,” he cleared his throat with a huff.

Kaku cocked an eyebrow at the denim jacket illuminated under the light of a streetlamp.

“You don’t have to do that,” he smiled, “It’s what we shipwrights do every day-”

“That’s not it.”

Paulie’s shoulders rose a little around his ears. He still didn’t turn around.

There was an awkward pause as Kaku tried to figure out what those words meant.

“Pardon?” he asked when he gave up.

“Tch!” Paulie finally whirled around and pointed an angry finger in Kaku’s face, “Damn it! Just accept my thanks! It took me five goddamn years to get Onyx to open up to me, and you managed to do it in one afternoon! I mean I only saw her a few times a year, but still! This is the first time she’s smiled and laughed so openly with me…”

His anger simmered and then cooled as he went on.

“That woman is something special, but she keeps everyone at arms-length. This is the first time I’ve seen her so relaxed around... for lack of a better word, ‘strangers’. Something might’ve changed with her, but I’m sure you had something to do with how happy she was tonight. So thank you…”

The two men stood in tense silence for a few moments before Kaku blinked and smiled

“Well it’s great to hear that Miss Onyx feels comfortable around me,” he said, “I look forward to her next visit.”

Paulie’s cheeks flushed momentarily before he turned back around and continued on up the road.

“Yeah, you and me both,” his mutter was so low that Kaku almost missed it.

Almost.

Kaku watched his blond friend’s back as they walked through the quiet streets and stifled another flash of jealousy before it fully formed. It seemed the rumours that circulated the shipyard every time Onyx visited had some truth to them; at least on Paulie’s side of things.

\--!

Kaku stiffened and jerked his head upwards, stumbling a bit on the cobblestones.

Paulie stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

“You alright?” the blond asked.

Kaku blinked and nodded.

“Just thought I saw something,” he smiled.

Paulie shrugged and they walked on in silence.

 _Damn cat_ , Kaku pulled his head down into the high collar of his vest to hide his frown, _He always has to get the last word in._

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Onyx whirled around to stare at the bright, starry sky.

The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end and her gut was telling her there was something extremely dangerous out there.

“Leaving without saying goodbye?” a deep, primal growl whispered in her ear, “I’m hurt, dear Black Heart.”

The woman jumped and her hand flew to her chest.

“Damn it, Lucci!” she snapped, “You almost gave me a heart attack!”

The tall man loomed out of the shadows, stepping across the deck with a deadly elegance. His top hat was pulled down over his eyes, leaving his wry grin glowing in the faint light cast by the lantern hung from the mast.

Onyx had never seen Lucci with anything other than a bored expression. Her body tensed as she sensed a threat.

“No Hattori?” she asked as Lucci stopped before her, his shoulders noticeably absent of his feathered friend.

“He was otherwise occupied.”

 _Damn, that voice_ … _why is he actually speaking to me all of a sudden_?

Onyx let her eyes wander over the man’s handsome face, curiosity overriding caution for the moment.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked, crossing her arms and relaxing her stance, “I must admit, sneaking up on a woman in the dead of night gives a pretty indecent impression.”

Lucci carefully reached down to take her right hand. Onyx watched as he lifted her knuckles to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on her skin.

“As I said,” his smirk grew as her cheeks warmed, “It hurt that you didn’t say goodbye. So I came to do it myself.”

Onyx gently took back her hand and stepped away.

“Well isn’t that thoughtful of you,” she refused to drop his gaze, “But I’ll be coming back eventually. This isn’t goodbye.”

A low growl rumbled through the back of Lucci’s throat.

“I’m afraid it will be,” he stepped forward and swooped an arm around her waist, pulling her against his body.

The surety in his statement made Onyx’s gut clench.

_So Spandam’s finally making his move? I guess five years was all I could really hope to stall him…_

Lucci’s fingers grasped her hip and Onyx blinked as she felt surprising warmth under his dark jacket. She met those intimidating grey eyes and became confused when she saw they were filled with curiosity. His arm tensed behind her and she became acutely aware of just how strong this man was. There was no doubt he could snap her spine without breaking a sweat.

It seemed Lucci was thinking along these same lines.

“How is it that such a … fragile woman…?”

Onyx cocked an eyebrow as Lucci trailed off but he quickly recovered.

“How are you able to uncover things that not even the Cipher Pols can find out?”

He lifted a finger and traced it lightly along her jaw.

“And, more importantly, how have they not managed to kill you?” he tilted his head slightly as he pondered his own questions.

Onyx tried to step back but Lucci’s arm kept her pinned tightly against him.

“You have knowledge that rulers would hand over their entire kingdoms for. You have dealt with all sides of justice and darkness. How has that not led to your destruction?”

 _He’s getting too curious_.

Onyx lifted her left hand and gently pushed Lucci’s fingers off her skin. He watched her movements, intrigue showing clearly on his face. Onyx was amazed at this display of emotion, but now was not the time to wonder about it. Now it was time to diffuse the situation before she got into trouble.

“You’re overestimating me, Lucci,” Onyx lied softly, meeting his eyes with a smile as a tingling warmth passed through her fingertips.

Lucci stared at her for a few long seconds. Then an expression of calm wiped away the curiosity.

“Perhaps you are right,” he said, dropping his hand, “What could a delicate little thing like you do that an agent like me can’t?”

Onyx’s smile twitched into a frown and she tried once again to escape his grasp.   
“Bragging doesn’t suit you, Lucci,” she snapped, “We both know you could kill me in an instant. All I ask is that you please don’t do that. I have places to be. Shouldn’t you be getting back?”

A hungry light flickered through those grey eyes and a predatory smile curled his lips. A chill ran down Onyx’s spine.

“Is that all you ask?” he purred as he leaned closer, his arm still wrapped around her waist, “Then I will be on my way. But I’ll take this as my collateral.”

Onyx caught his intentions but was in no position to reject them.

Their lips met and she couldn’t help but moan into the surprising softness that caressed her mouth. The citrusy scent washed over her and Lucci’s hand came up to cradle the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. His hot tongue traced lines of fire over her lips.

Even as she refused to allow him further access, Onyx couldn’t help but begin to return his attentions. It had been a long time since she’d been kissed. And Lucci was an exceptionally good kisser.

They parted, Onyx gasping slightly for air, and Lucci finally released her.

She took an unsteady step back while mustering the best glare she could under the circumstances.

“What the hell?!” she growled, lifting her hand as if to slap him and trying to ignore the heavy blush burning on her cheeks.

“You may take that back if we meet again, Kitten,” Lucci’s voice rumbled through his chest, completely unfazed by her aggression.

 _Kitten?_ Onyx cocked an eyebrow as he stepped easily up onto the rail.

“You sure have a lot of confidence lately,” she muttered, “If you don’t get off my boat right now I will _throw_ you off.”

Lucci let out a low chuckle.

A chuckle?!

Onyx’s eyes widened at the strange sound.

“And you have been quite responsive this visit. You have somehow piqued my interest and I am not one to hesitate to take what I desire,” he said without turning around, “Safe journey, Kitten.”

He leapt off the rail and up into the sky, and then kept going. Onyx watched in hidden awe as the top agent of CP-9 vanished into the night.

“Bastard,” she hissed under her breath before returning her attention to her nocturnal voyage, “Don’t think I’ll come collecting so easily.”

Then she paused as a fruity scent lingered on her skin.

“…Kiwi…” she finally put her finger on the elusive citrus smell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha there's the kiwi with Lucci again. I still don't know if it's canon that he likes kiwis, I might be taking it from that part in the anime Davey Back Fight where there's this leopard guy who really likes kiwis -_- idk


	6. Mission Complete

Onyx clicked her tongue irritably as the syrupy water lapped at the Flying Dodger’s hull.

“If my baby gets damaged just after he got fixed I’ll be demanding a bonus,” she muttered under her breath before turning to the tart-shaped vessel approaching off her starboard bow.

“You have just entered the territory of the Emperor Big Mom!” a voice crackled over a transponder snail-speaker, “State your business or prepare for death!”

She rolled her eyes and stepped one foot up on the rail.

“It’s Onyx!” she shouted over the purple sea, “I’ve returned with information for Her Highness!”

The tramp of her combat boots echoed loudly through the vaulted halls of Whole Cake Chateau as she made her way to the throne room.

Onyx kept her awe at the delicious beauty of the castle and island hidden this time. She was amazed at what could be done with food as construction materials, but she also knew the ways in which these lands were controlled and operated.

Onyx frowned as a door ahead of her opened and loud voices burst into the hall. She fought the urge to cover her ears as a tall man with purple hair stepped out and threw a glance her way.

This one was….

Onyx mentally went through the incredibly long list of Charlotte progeny.

Cracker.

“Oh? Back so soon, Onyx- _chan_?” the man smirked and turned to block her way.

The woman drew up short and frowned.

_What’s with this familiarity?_

“Yes, I’ve completed my mission,” she said slowly, running a hand across the brim of her hat, “I am going to see Her Highness.”

Cracker’s head tilted to the side as he looked down at her, the tip of his strange hairdo almost brushing the wall as he did so.

“You know that if you lie to Mama she’ll kill you, right?” he said matter-of-factly.

Onyx’s eyes flashed.

“It’s an insult for an informant to be accused of lying!” she snapped, “I stake my life on the truth on a daily basis. You don’t need to tell me to be honest.”

Her outburst drew the attention of the other occupants of the room and a crowd of heads thrust through the doorway.

Cracker gave her a pleased smirk.

“Great, I was counting on you being alive tonight so you could accompany me to the family banquet.”

Onyx’s jaw dropped, but she was thankfully saved from answering.

“Eh? Cracker, it is a _family_ banquet. No outsiders are allowed,” an even taller man with a bright orange beard and matching hair stepped into the hall. “Hello, Onyx.”

Oven? Yes, Oven.

She gave the Minister of Browned Foods a grateful nod and let out a small sigh of relief as Cracker’s shoulders slumped.

“Is that so? What a shame,” she said, not really trying to hide her sarcasm.

Then she turned to the door and slowly went over each of the faces.

“Hello, Oven, Galette, Brulée, Mont-d’Or, Snack, Poire, Smoothie,” she ran through the names as she nodded to each Charlotte, “It is a pleasure and honour to meet you again.”

“Wiwwiwwi,” Brulée sneered down at her, “Mama’s little messenger coo has come back with some news? I don’t know why she bothers with _you_ when we already have so many other envoys.”

Onyx returned the cold stare but kept her mouth shut. She was in no position to start a fight, especially inside Whole Cake Chateau, and _especially_ within reach of three of the four Sweet Commanders.

“Leave her alone, Brulée,” Oven put a hand on his sister’s shoulder, “This woman can get top quality information faster than anyone else. Mama appreciates her work.” He tilted his head towards Onyx, “She should be getting on to Mama now.”

Onyx blinked and sent another grateful nod to the towering man.

“Yes, please excuse me,” she bowed her head before hurrying on.

Cracker stepped to the side but reached down and smacked her butt as she walked by.

Onyx’s whole body stiffened up at his touch. Her fists clenched so hard that her nails started drawing blood. The pain served as a necessary distraction from her desperate urge to knock the purplet sky high.

“Stick around this time, won’t you, Onyx- _chan_?” Cracker laughed as she stalked down the hall, “We should get to know each other a little more.”

Onyx arrived outside the throne room to find another towering man standing by the massive doors. His black leather pants and vest made his crimson hair and fluffy, white scarf stand out remarkably.

“Hello, Katakuri,” Onyx bowed her head, “Is Big Mom ready to see me?”

“Not yet,” his answer surprised her, “She’s down in the kitchens but will be up shortly.”

“I see. I’ll wait here then.”

“Yes,” Katakuri nodded and then they both fell into a comfortable silence.

Onyx let her eyes wander as she waited in the colourful hall, flicking back every now and then to the giant of a man standing next to her.

A smirk flit over her lips.

“Is something funny?” Katakuri asked.

Onyx blinked and silently cursed her obviousness. She fixed a frown on her face and turned her eyes resolutely forward.

It always happened around him.

This man could get her to drop her guard so easily, and he didn’t even have to _do_ anything! Onyx scolded herself for letting Katakuri’s aura affect her in such a way.

“Not particularly,” she kept her tone level, “I was just noting how our clothes contrast strikingly with our surroundings. We must look like two old crows.”

Katakuri didn’t respond, but Onyx got the feeling he was amused.

Her hand drifted into her pocket and she retrieved the black notebook. She pulled it out and perused its pages to review the information she’d been contracted to find.

A shadow flit over her face as she considered what her words would probably do to the innocents caught in the crossfire.

The face of a young boy in a baggy sweatshirt rose in her mind, his eyes wide with terror and shining with orange flames.

Her hair fell down over her eyes as she gave her head a shake.

 _Don’t do that to yourself, it’s the nature of the job_ , she focused on rereading her notes, _and besides, he’s in a better place now..._

A slight throb on her rear drew her attention and she rubbed the sore spot absentmindedly. Her scowl deepened as she recalled the cause of her discomfort.

“Are you injured?” Katakuri suddenly asked.

“Oh… no,” Onyx blinked up at him, “I ran into some of your siblings on the way here and a certain brother of yours got a little handsy.” Her voice finished in an unexpected growl and she glanced up nervously.

Hopefully Katakuri wouldn’t take offense.

The man shifted and nodded his head slightly.

“I see,” he said, “I thought something like this might happen. Mama had a fleeting notion regarding marrying you into the family after your last contract.”

Onyx blinked and felt her cheeks reddening.

“Uh. No,” she shook her head vigorously and sent her gaze down to her boots, “I… I really hope she doesn’t think that again.”

 _Maybe I shouldn’t give her all the info-_ she sharply cut off the thought. _No! Rule #2: Always be honest to clients._

Her honour depended on an honest and complete delivery. No matter who her client was.

“Yes, I agree,” Katakuri’s voice surprised her and Onyx jerked her eyes up to meet his, “I think having no ties to anyone serves you well in gathering information. If you were to have the name Charlotte attached to you, some people may be less willing to speak.”

Onyx nodded and regained her composure.

“My thoughts exactly,” she murmured, then her scowl returned, “Maybe you could have a word with Cracker then...”

Just then a loud bang echoed from behind her and a familiar cackling laugh accompanied the creak of the opening doors.

“Mamamama! Is that my little blackbird? You’re earlier than I expected. Come in and tell me what you’ve discovered!” the large and intimidating Emperor beckoned from her throne within.

“Please,” Katakuri stood to the side and motioned for her to enter ahead of him.

Onyx nodded and stepped forward, her fingers clenched tightly around her notebook and her head held high.

_Show no fear. Speak clearly and only when spoken to. Don’t break eye contact._

Onyx let out a short breath. Hopefully she could follow her own advice and survive her meeting with Charlotte Linlin.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Charlotte Katakuri remained at the right foot of his mother’s throne, watching with stern eyes as Black Heart Onyx delivered the information that had been asked of her.

It was regarding an island on the Paradise side of the Grand Line that was rumoured to have developed a new strain of sweet flour. And from Onyx’s report, it sounded as if these rumours were not only true, but a little understated.

Katakuri knew he would be sent out on an exploratory mission within the week.

“Mamamama!” Big Mom crowed in delight when Onyx finished her report, “Excellent! I could not have hoped for better!”

The massive pirate leaned over the smaller woman and smiled toothily.

“I suppose you haven’t brought any seeds with you?”

Katakuri was impressed when Onyx neither flinched nor looked away.

This woman’s confidence was remarkable. She was the only informant who could face his mother without fear; a feat worthy of note. All the others may start their reports strong, but would be cowering and shaking by the end.

Still, given Big Mom’s unstable mood at the best of times, this was a dangerous stance.

“No, Ma’am,” Onyx shook her head resolutely, “I only deal with words, nothing else. I thought I made that clear upon our first meeting.”

Big Mom’s grin faltered ever so slightly, then she shrugged.

Katakuri’s shoulders relaxed a tad.

“Of course, I will be sending one of my children to verify what you say,” his mother said.

“Yes, Ma’am,” the raven haired beauty gave a deep bow.

Big Mom’s smile grew and she leaned back in her throne.

“Here is the rest of your payment,” she motioned for some flower homies to give Onyx a large bag of beris, “You are dismissed. It’s late, so a room has been set up for you. Stay as long as you like. My sons were excited for your return, you should visit with them tomorrow.”

Onyx’s lips parted ever so slightly and her dark eyes flicked momentarily in Katakuri’s direction. But she did not object to his mother’s words, instead she nodded and turned around.

He watched her departure, his brow wrinkling slightly in thought.

When the doors thudded closed his mother shifted in her throne.

“She is by far the most reliable informant I’ve ever seen,” Big Mom sent a sickening smile to the doors, “The other agents I sent haven’t even reached the island yet.”

Then a dangerous glint flashed in her eyes.

“There’s no doubt that if someone asked her about us right now she would give away our secrets. It would be easiest just to kill her but… I can’t lose such a precious resource,” her gaze slid over to her son, “I want to know everything about her. A weakness will guarantee a tight leash.”

Katakuri nodded.

His sigh of relief remained hidden behind the folds of his scarf as he left to relay these orders to the scouts.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The room Big Mom had put her in was smack in the middle of her children’s own private rooms. Onyx thanked her lucky stars that there was that family banquet tonight so she didn’t have to deal with any more unwanted flirting.

She reached the relative safety of her room without running in to any more Charlottes.

 _I don’t care what Big Mom says_ , she glowered into her pillow, _I’m leaving first thing in the morning._

_“Purupurpurupuru…..”_

Onyx lifted her head off her pillow and frowned.

Her travel bag sat on the floor by the nightstand, and it was shivering violently.

She was more than a little pissed off that Big Mom had had someone go to her boat and bring it here, but she had also expected it once she had been told to stay. Good thing she had had a bag ready and waiting near the mast. Heaven help them if they had violated her privacy. As soon as she was back onboard, she would know if they had done anything more than take her bag and leave.

Onyx rolled off the bed and rifled through the clothes, papers, beris, and spare moisturizers and lipstick tubes until she found the source of the ringing.

She pulled out a small bronze* transponder snail and set it down on the nightstand.

_“Purupurupurupuru…..purupurupurupuru… Kacha”_

“Hello?” Onyx groaned into the receiver.

“Is that how you speak to a member of the World Government?!” an obnoxious male voice came over the line, “It’s a wonder we keep you around at all.”

 _Oh right, Lucci had said to expect a call…_ too bad her patience had already worn paper thin.

“Shut it, Spandam,” Onyx growled.

She let her eyes fall closed as she lay back on the covers.

“What do you want?”

“Bah! You’ll show me respect, you -!”

“You’re keeping me from my beauty sleep, Spandam _dear_ ,” Onyx let her irritation slip into her voice, “I suggest you make this quick unless you want to find out exactly how much I know about you and your dirty little life.”

The snail gave an audible gulp before gritting its teeth.

“Don’t you ‘dear’ me! How dare you!” Spandam growled, “Threatening a government officer?! I’ll have them after you-!”

“She’s already ‘ _deared_ ’ you?! Give me that!” another voice came over the line, followed by the sounds of a scuffle.

“Bah! Whatever! I can’t deal with such a stupid woman anyway!” Spandam’s voice faded into the background.

“Tch! Don’t listen to him, Babydoll,” the new voice spoke, “I know how smart you are.”

_Babydoll?_

Now there was a nickname she hadn’t heard in a while.

“Jabra?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow at the snail and rolled over on her bed, “Is that you?”

“Hey, Doll,” the snail’s features shifted into a wolfish grin, “What the boss was trying to say was we need you to get to Headquarters. The nature of the information we want is sensitive and we can’t risk the line being tapped.”

Onyx paused.

CP-9 Headquarters? That was Enies Lobby. She hadn’t been to that Government stronghold yet. Spandam had always just sent her a letter or made a request over the transponder snail.

Her lips curled up at the prospect of discovering a new place.

“Sure,” she said, “I’m in the New World at the moment so it’ll take me a while to get there.”

“Thanks, Doll,” Jabra’s voice faded a bit and shifted into a mocking tone, “See, it ain’t so hard.”

“Shut it, you mutt!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!”

Onyx smirked and hung up the receiver before snuggling back under the covers, happy at the prospect of more work.

And now she had an excuse for not staying in Totoland!

The thought soothed her and she had just started to drift off when…

_“Purupurupurupuru…..purupurupurupuru….”_

“Seriously?!” she growled as her hand groped out to the transponder snail again.

It was rare that she got a call so late, let alone two in one night.

“ _Kacha_.”

“What?!”

“Well isn’t that a flashy hello,” a familiar voice cackled in amusement.

_Flashy…?_

Onyx’s eyes widened in surprise. She knew of only one person who peppered his speech with such a stupid word.

“Sensei?!” she gasped, rolling over and almost falling out of her bed.

“Gyahahahahaha!” the snail’s face became quite obnoxious as it laughed, “Your flashy surprise means you must be excited to hear from me, eh?” 

The smugness in his voice was unbearable.

“Of course,” Onyx made sure her tone was smooth, “It’s been so long since I’ve heard from you, Sensei. I’ve missed you.”

The snail’s eyes widened as an expression of utter shock froze its features. Just the reaction she’d been looking for.

“Don’t act so surprised,” she smirked at the receiver and sat up, “So what did you call me at-” she checked the chocolate clock on the far wall and let out a low groan, “-three in the morning for?”

The snail cleared its throat and managed to regain its composure.

“R-right! I’m looking for someone and was hoping you had some information on him. His name is Straw Hat Luffy. He’s a flashy rookie who just got into the Grand Line.”

“Hm? Straw Hat Luffy?” she blinked into the darkness, “Actually yes. He was in Alabasta about a week ago. There was a civil war there. I’m surprised you haven’t heard.”

“Alabasta? I thought the marines flashily took care of Crocodile. What was his name… Smoker?...”

Onyx nodded.

“Yeah, that’s what they told the public. I warned Crocodile to be careful but… well anyway Straw Hat was in Alabasta. The logpose leads to Jaya after that. You should be able to pick up his trail around there.”

“Gyahaha! Perfect! I can always flashily count on you, Onyx!” the delighted expression of the snail shifted into a more thoughtful frown, “Hey, you know… If you’ll be in that area…”

Onyx’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.

“Actually, I might be,” she said, “I’ll try and look you up, Sensei.”

“Hmph!” the snail let out a huff, “Whatever. I can be flashy with or without you. And you can cut it out with that stupid title! It’s gotten old and people will get the wrong idea!”

Onyx rolled her eyes.

“You’re the one who wanted me to call you as such. I don’t go back on my word. Bye, Buggy-sensei,” she yawned as she hung up the receiver.

Onyx looked around her chocolatey room and let out a sigh.

_Well…_

Since she was still up, she might as well leave now. She gathered up her sparse belongings and snuck out of the castle.

The slight crunch of her footsteps on the gravel road was all that broke the silence of the night.

“Sorry Charlottes,” she smiled as the harbour came into view, “But duty calls.”

A shiver ran down her spine and she shot a glance over her shoulder.

“Oh? And I thought you simply didn’t want to sit through more courting attempts,” a deep voice from the shadows caused her to draw up short and jerk her hand down to the lump under her jacket.

“Katakuri,” Onyx watched warily as the man loomed out from the trees flanking the road, “Are you enjoying the night air as well?”

The man sent her a stern glare and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

“Don’t bother attempting to cover up your intentions,” he said, “I won’t stop you.”

She cocked an eyebrow and slowly lowered her hand.

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll be on my way then,” she nodded and took a step down the road.

“Mama will be angry at your absence, but she will call on you again,” Katakuri said, causing her to stop and look over her shoulder, “Next time I advise you to bring some sweets as an apology.”

“That won’t be-!” Onyx met his cold stare for a few seconds and her lips pressed into a thin line.

She knew exactly what he was doing. She cursed herself for being too slow to interrupt his offer.

Now she owed him.

“Thank you, Katakuri,” she tried hard to keep her voice from snapping, but wasn’t sure of her success.

She could have sworn she saw a pleased look flash through his eyes.

“If you are departing, you should do so now,” he nodded his head slightly, “The guards will be passing by in a few moments.”

“I know,” Onyx spun back around and stalked off into the dark, “See you later, Mochi Man,” she muttered, knowing he had already disappeared back into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *So based on the OP Wiki there are gold and silver transponder snails that have special traits and uses. I made Onyx's personal transponder snail bronze and gave it the ability to be called from anywhere in the OP World if the person calling dials the correct number (like a real phone), but it can't make outgoing calls. Onyx can't use a normal transponder snail since their range is pretty limited.
> 
> And I do have more plans for the Charlotte clan. Onyx will be visiting them again so this isn't goodbye to Totoland ;)


	7. A Few More Distractions

Onyx sighed and shut off the black transponder snail, silencing the marine news broadcast she’d been intercepting.

Other than a few new bounties and the movements of some Vice Admirals, there had only been one bit of information that had piqued her interest.

Marshall D. Teach was being considered as a replacement Warlord for the recently arrested Crocodile.

Blackbeard…

There was something unnaturally frightening about that man. He had somehow managed to give Red Haired Shanks a massive scar. And he had killed a member of his own crew in order to get a devil fruit.

… _Poor Thatch_ …

But other than that, he had done nothing of note. Why would the Navy consider someone for Warlord whose only claim to fame was being on Whitebeard’s bad side?

And on that note, the boy who had defeated Crocodile and left this position open: Monkey D. Luffy…

His name was popping up a lot lately.

The World Government was not going to let such a young pirate take down a Warlord without consequences. They’d sent out notices to all the bases with the boy’s new bounty and orders to show him no mercy.

_I should get in touch with Garp…_

Onyx let out another sigh as she recalled the strange boy from Alabasta. She hoped she ran into him again. She wanted to test his character. And she wanted to know why Portgas D. Ace was so friendly with a rookie from the East Blue.

After scribbling down a few notes, she stood and stretched. Her eyes scanned the watery horizon until they settled on something out of place.

Her spyglass came out and up. She blinked and lowered it before lifting it again, not quite believing what she was seeing on the other end.

“What is _he_ doing out here?” she muttered, checking her course and drifting towards the small, solitary vessel approaching on her port side.

The other ship must have noticed her because its course altered as well. After a half hour of sailing towards each other they were finally within speaking distance.

Onyx perched up on the rail and waved across the water.

The lone man on the other vessel stood up from the chair positioned in the center of his deck. He removed his feathered hat and gave her a suave bow, the hilt of his huge black sword glinting in the noonday sun.

“And how is the Woman in Black doing on this fine day?” his low, respectful tone was as smooth as ever.

“I’m doing well, Mihawk,” Onyx nodded as their ships drew alongside each other, “Fancy meeting you out here.”

“I’ve just come from Mary Geoise,” the man ran a hand over his short goatee, “I’m on my way home. Would you like to accompany me?”

Onyx cocked an eyebrow at his forwardness.

“I’m afraid I have to decline,” she said, “And since when do you obey the government’s summons?”

Mihawk’s lips curled into a slight smirk.

“Pity,” he said, fixing his golden stare on her, “I was simply curious about a certain group of rookie pirates and knew they would be a topic of discussion.”

“Oh? Who are they?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow and swung her feet out over the water, “You know if you desire any information my services are available to you.”

Mihawk gave his head a slight shake.

“I don’t want to trouble you, my dear,” he said, “And it really wouldn’t be worth your time. They have only just entered the Grand Line, but are already creating quite the stir.”

Onyx felt a smirk come onto her lips.

“Not the Straw Hats by any chance?” she blinked innocently as Mihawk gave her a surprised stare.

“Why yes…” he mused, “I should have already learned never to underestimate you.”

Onyx lifted her chin proudly, making the man’s smile widen.

“You flatter me, Mihawk. I dare say I’m tempted by your earlier offer,” she swept her hair over her shoulder and slid down off the rail, “But alas, my client is not the patient sort. Another time perhaps?”

Mihawk nodded his head.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said.

Onyx stifled her smirk, then a shadow flickered over her face.

“How many others answered the summons?” she fixed Mihawk with a firm stare.

The man regarded her carefully for a few moments before answering.

“There were three including myself,” he said, “Kuma and Doflamingo.”

The darkness in Onyx’s eyes deepened considerably.

“Only those two?”

Her gaze flickered down to the deck. The noon-day sun cast her stark shadow over the planks underfoot. She stared at the black silhouette for a while until a far off gull’s call drew her out of her thoughts.

“Hm,” she nodded, “I’m surprised that Doflamingo bothered…”

“He did say it was only out of boredom,” Mihawk said.

The cawing sound grew closer. Both of their attention turned out to a bird flying towards the two crafts. Onyx’s eyes narrowed as she saw the mark stamped onto the bag slung around the large white gull’s neck.

“Not again,” she growled.

Mihawk remained silent but his eyes betrayed his interest in the goings-on as Onyx stepped back from the rail and reached under her trench coat.

With a quick movement she withdrew a short dagger, one of many cheap weapons she kept hidden on her body, and launched it towards the bird.

The poor animal squawked in fear as the blade pierced the bag and lodged in place.

“There’s my answer!” Onyx called across the water, “Now go home and don’t bother me again!”

With another indignant squawk, the gull swung around in a wide arc and flew back the way it had come.

“It’s a pity you don’t wield a blade,” Mihawk said as Onyx turned back to him, “You have much natural talent.”

“All I did was throw it,” she cocked a doubtful eyebrow, “And sorry, but I prefer guns. They’re way less… personal.”

“Hm,” the swordsman gave her a small frown before his eyes moved to follow the fast disappearing bird, “I’m surprised to see you in contact with the Pleasure District.”

“You recognized her crest?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow, “I didn’t think you were the type of man to partake in Stussy’s entertainment.”

“I am not,” Mihawk’s lips pressed into a thin line, “And it irks me to think she is trying to recruit you into such work.”

Onyx shrugged.

“She’s been at it for years,” she sighed, “Just can’t take no for an answer. I heard she even tried to get some of the Yonko into her network.”

She blinked. Since when did she just blurt out gossip?! Knowledge was money, she never gave it away for free!

Maybe she was coming down with something…

“Speaking of which, perhaps you’d be interested to know that I met Red Hair not too long ago,” Mihawk seemed eager to change the subject, “It seems I am not the only one keeping an eye on those rookies.”

A fair trade.

Onyx’s eyes displayed her gratitude toward the swordsman. Then her brow furrowed in thought.

“Shanks? Haven’t seen him in a while…” she trailed off as a certain memory rose to the front of her mind.

 _Shit!_ she cleared her throat as heat rose unwelcomed in her cheeks. Her eyes dove downward and latched onto her ever-present shadow once again. _Come on, get over it. That was years ago!_

Yep, she was definitely sick. There was no other explanation for this.

“Hm,” Mihawk eyed her with something akin to amusement, “I seem to have my work cut out for me.”

_His work…?_

Onyx stiffened as she felt his hand take her own and watched him place a light kiss on her knuckles. Her cheeks cooled and she shot the swordsman a curious stare as he turned around and settled back into his chair.

“Safe journey, Hawkeyes,” she rested a hand on the rail, “It’s nice seeing you off that gloomy island.”

Mihawk smirked.

“I hope you will bless me with a visit one of these days,” he said, giving her a sharp, golden stare, “The humandrills are extremely poor drinking companions.”

“Oh?” Onyx leaned on the rail, “I have been craving a good wine. Crocodile had nice stuff, but your taste puts his to shame.”

The prideful smile that curled the man’s lips gave her great satisfaction.

“I would hope so,” he bowed his head to her, “And your companionship is second to none, my dear. I look forward to it. Farewell.”

His odd little craft drifted away and Onyx remained watching his departure until she could no longer make out his outline.

This was why she loved being on the open sea; she always ran into the most interesting people out here.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

And this was the reason she hated coming in to land; she couldn’t run away from the people she didn’t want to meet.

That’s what Onyx told herself as she watched the two groups of pirates brawling in the square before her.

She knew that, technically, she _could_ just run away.

She could easily turn around and walk away from this town and set out once again. She could stretch her meager rations until Enies Lobby if she really wanted. She didn’t _have_ to buy supplies here.

But she continued to watch the men fighting a few feet away.

She knew of both groups.

Two rookie pirate crews. One from the North Blue, one from the West.

The white boiler-suit apparel of the North Blue group clashed hilariously with the well-tailored suits and fedoras of the West Blue gang. But despite their difference in attire, both crews seemed equally matched when it came to battle.

Onyx’s eyes fell on the captains of each side. The two men were facing off in the center of the street.

A stinging sensation moved across her chest and she scowled at the tall man wearing a white, sparsely black spotted, hat.

She did _not_ want him to see her.

But… she _did_ _NOT_ want him getting hurt.

Onyx stood frozen in indecision as the fighting continued.

“I suggest you back down immediately,” the taller, tanned man smirked calmly, “Or else this island is the farthest you will get.”

“You should show your betters more respect, brat,” the shorter man was obviously much older, with dark stubble and a few extra pounds around his middle.

The fighting around them intensified as the opposing crews battled for dominance. A fruit stall beside Onyx, long since abandoned by its vendor, was smashed to pieces as a tall man with an extremely long tongue threw a polar bear wearing an orange boiler-suit into it.

The bear leapt up, staggered a bit, and only gave Onyx a fleeting glance before spinning and kicking back into the fight.

Onyx glanced back to the captains. Both men had squared their stance, neither of them backing down.

She rolled her eyes. If this escalated any more there wouldn’t be any town left.

 _Don’t speak. Just leave_. Her mind told her.

 _Stop this before he gets hurt_ , her heart whispered, _you won’t be able to live with yourself otherwise._

_Dammit… this is why I can’t get attached._

“Calm down, Bege,” Onyx felt her lips move, “I want to resupply here and it’d be quite difficult if you destroyed the place.”

Both men stiffened and turned in her direction. At their captains’ movements, the respective crews also ceased fighting and turned their attention to her.

“Eh? Black Heart!? What are you doing here?” the shorter man pinched his cigar between his teeth.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and ventured a step into the crowd of pirates.

“I’m allowed to travel where I like, aren’t I?” she asked innocently.

Bege’s expression darkened and he lifted his arm. His men immediately raised their guns and trained them on her head.

Onyx stopped and gave him a deep frown.

“What’s this about?” she snapped, making sure her stance remained confident and sure despite the knot in her stomach, “I told you, I’m only here to resupply. I’m not on a job at the moment.”

Bege’s smirk didn’t reach his beady little eyes.

“Forgive me for not trusting the word of a woman who betrayed me,” he growled.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and clicked her tongue.

“I don’t blame you, Bege,” she said calmly, “I was contracted to figure out what you were planning. But all I did was inform my client. They are the ones you should blame.”

The Fire Tank Pirates gave her unconvinced glares. It was clear they remembered her from her stint at infiltrating their gang back in the West Blue.

“And as I recall, you made it out alright in the end,” Onyx continued, moving her eyes back to Bege, “It was just business, you understand that right? I hold no ill will towards you, Father.”

The man’s eyebrow twitched as she used his mob title.

For one heart-stopping second Onyx thought he was going to order his men to fire, but then he motioned for them to lower their weapons.

“I won’t forgive your traitorous actions,” Bege snapped, “But you did serve me well and have not bothered me since. If you truly are here to resupply, I won’t hinder you. But should we ever meet on opposing sides of a battlefield, I will _personally_ deal with you.”

And with that he ushered his men into his devil fruit body and stalked off, casting one last dark look over his shoulder before vanishing around the corner.

Onyx let out her breath and ran a hand over her sweaty forehead. She’d have to be careful in the future; she’d just used up the last shred of favour Bege held for her.

“Phew, lucky,” she muttered, “I thought I was dead for a moment there.”

“I would have saved you,” a low voice spoke from behind her.

_Shit!_

Her back stiffened like a rod and her eyes leapt to the now open street before her. Without turning around to greet the speaker, she took off at a full run.

“Room.”

But she barely made it three steps before she saw a ring of blue extend up the path on either side.

“Shambles.”

Onyx let out a strangled yelp as the world vanished around her. Her entire body suddenly felt as if it were being squished through a minuscule tube. The air was trapped in her painfully spasming lungs and her legs wouldn’t listen to her brain’s signals to run.

But just as quickly as the sensation came, it left. She blinked and found herself running smack into a slim, handsome, young pirate wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans.

“It’s been a while… Onee-ya.”

 _Dammit_ , Onyx stepped back and took a slow breath, adjusting her hat back into place on her head.

“Hello… Law,” she stared at her hands as unwanted memories bombarded her and pain seared across her chest, “So you’ve finally made it to the Grand Line. I didn’t know you were on this island…”

He drew himself up to his full height, though it barely matched her own.

“I didn’t know you were in this sea either,” his voice was calm but there was an underlying tone that made her frown, “It is quite the coincidence to meet you here.”

“Yes, it is,” Onyx nodded, “Well, now that you’re out of trouble I’ll be on my way.”

She moved to step around him but he stretched out an arm to block her path.

“You said you’re resupplying?” he said, a thin frown on his lips, “Another coincidence, so are we.”

Onyx glared at his mouth, not allowing her gaze to move up further.

“Law… I’m not-”

“Captain?” the polar bear in the orange jumpsuit appeared at Law’s side and gave her a shy nod.

“Who’s this, Captain?” a man with shoulder length red hair and a blue hat walked up.

“Are you going to introduce us?” another man wearing a hat that said ‘penguin’ on it joined the little group and flashed Onyx a wide smile.

She gave the three newcomers a polite nod, trying and failing to wipe the scowl off her lips.

“You must be Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin,” she said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Eh?” Shachi looked taken aback and Penguin tilted his head to the side, “I see Captain’s already told you our names.”

“I have not,” Law’s voice was as stern as Onyx imagined his expression was.

Her scowl deepened. She hadn’t thought this day would come so soon…

“Oh, Law and I haven’t spoken in eleven years,” she said calmly, “But I’ve kept tabs on you guys since Luna Island. You’ve done pretty well for some upstarts.”

There was a collective intake of breath.

“I always wondered why that sniper suddenly disappeared in the middle of that fight,” Law’s lips twitched into a frown, “That was years ago in the North Blue! I should have known they’d send you to keep an eye on me,” the ring of metal made her eyes widen and a long blade was suddenly pressed against her neck, “If you’ve been watching me this whole time why did you decide to show yourself now, Onee-ya?”

“Captain!” Penguin exclaimed.

“Onee-san?!” Shachi’s alarmed stare fixed on Onyx again, “There’s no way!”

“I’m sorry!” Bepo’s head sunk low on his chest.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow at Law’s chin, eyeing the small goatee he was trying to grow.

“Don’t worry. I’m working on my own,” she muttered, “If you didn’t trust me then why did you say you would have saved me if Bege had fired?”

Law’s hand tensed on the hilt of his sword.

“On your own?” there was a long pause before he lowered his weapon, “If you were anyone else I would have cut off your head.”

Onyx let out the breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“You know me so well, Law,” she smirked at her feet, but then a hand latched around her forearm and she was pulled forward, “Law?!”

Onyx was dragged through the town until they reached a small café and was then thrust into a patio chair.

“Bepo, make sure she doesn’t go anywhere,” Law ordered as he disappeared inside the restaurant.

“Yes, Captain!” the bear saluted and took up position at her side.

Onyx sensed Penguin and Shachi move to surround her, but she was still quite shocked at this turn of events.

She had expected this young man to despise her, to hate her very existence, yet here he was presumably buying her lunch.

She was still sitting stiffly when Law returned with a large plate of rice balls.

“You guys sit over there,” he said, gesturing to his crew as he sat down across from her.

“What?! No fair, Captain!” Penguin protested.

“We want to eat with the beautiful lady too,” Shachi said.

“I’m sorry,” Bepo bowed his head.

But the glare their captain sent them immediately shattered their resolve and the rest of the crew began occupying tables behind them.

The pair ate in silence for a long while. Onyx blinked at the tattoos on the hands of the man in front of her as he munched on a rice ball.

How long had it been since she’d last seen him? She didn’t remember those…

“So… you’ve been operating on your own for a while?” Law asked after swallowing a mouthful.

Onyx nodded, finally getting a hold of herself.

“Ten years,” she said, picking at the seaweed wrapping of her own rice ball, “I like it. You can’t get too attached to anyone when you’re by yourself.”

Law pondered her words for a few moments before shrugging.

“Can’t argue with that,” he muttered, “But I wish you’d told me sooner. I would’ve been less hostile toward you. I thought you were still-”

“I didn’t want you to know,” Onyx interrupted him, “It’s easier for me to keep an eye on you when you hate me.”

Law smirked.

“I don’t hate you, Onee-ya. I never hated you,” he said, “I couldn’t blame you for going back. You knew him longer than I did… you two always had a ... strange relationship.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Onyx mumbled as she focused on her food and fought off the painful memories vying for her attention, “What are your plans? I could give you some pointers on getting through Paradise.”

“Pawadith?” Law questioned.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Onyx fought a chuckle as he swallowed his bite, “Paradise is the first half of the Grand Line. The second half is called the New World. And compared to that place, this sea is tame.”

“What?” Shachi gasped, leaning over from his table behind Law, “Have you _seen_ the weather here?!”

“Trust me,” Onyx smirked, eagerly turning her eyes onto a man who wasn’t Trafalgar Law, “The last time I was over there I had to slalom through literal _waterfalls_ falling from the sky before skipping over an island because it was perpetually being struck by lightning.”

“No way!” Penguin’s mouth fell open, “Are we going there, Captain?”

Law leaned back in his chair and rested his arms behind his head.

“Eventually,” he said, “I’m in no hurry though. One Piece will still be there.”

“Oh?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow at her plate, “I’m impressed. You were never a patient boy.”

Law’s lips twitched as he let out a scoff.

“It isn’t for my sake that I’m taking my time,” he sighed, tilting his head towards his crew.

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Shachi’s cheeks flushed angrily.

“You don’t think we could’ve taken Bege?!” Penguin shouted.

“We would have beaten them but you would have gotten heavily injured and I’d have to spend crucial energy healing you,” Law snapped.

Onyx failed to conceal her amused smirk and it only widened when she saw Law’s frown deepen.

 _Oh, he’s grown up so much_ , she thought as sadness crept into her smile.

“Hmmm, well if it’s safety for your crew that you want… then I’d suggest trying to become a Warlord,” Onyx ran a finger over her bottom lip, “You’d have to gain some notoriety first, but Warlords have free reign in the government’s eyes so you won’t be harassed by the marines. And other pirates will be more likely to give you some space if you have that title. There’s a seat open now, actually.”

There was a pause before Law’s lips lifted in a light smile.

“A Warlord?” he mused as his fingers played up and down the hilt of his sword, “Now there’s an idea.”

Onyx smiled and finished her rice ball.

“Glad I could help,” she abruptly stood up and stepped away from the table, “Thanks for lunch. I’ll be on my way now.”

To her annoyance Law also leapt to his feet.

“So will we,” he said and gestured to his crew, “You four gather the supplies, the rest of you get back to the ship.”

“Hai, Captain!” the entire crew saluted before splitting into the selected groups and running off.

Onyx watched helplessly as the Heart Pirates disappeared down the street.

This was exactly where she did not want to be.

With Trafalgar D. Water Law.

Alone.

She moved to step away but a firm hand on her forearm fixed her to the spot.

“Onee-ya,” Law murmured, “I am going to avenge Cora-san.”

Whatever she had expected to hear, it hadn’t been that.

Onyx let out a gasp as memories came flooding back and an invisible knife dug deeply into the skin below her throat.

“Law!” she hissed through clenched teeth, feeling blood leaking through her shirt, “I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t die. But I cannot help you, you know that.”

Law’s grip tightened on her arm.

“I’m sure you already have the information I need. I’ll hire you for your services,” he said.

“No! I refuse to work for you for that reason,” Onyx growled.

Law drew himself up and moved his grip to her shoulder.

“Verity-ya, I will kill him one way or another. If you’d just-!”

Onyx didn’t hear anything else. Her blood suddenly roared in her ears and anger burned through her veins.

Only one man was allowed to call her that.

And it wasn’t Law.

She spun around and her arm moved up on its own.

_SMACK!_

Law’s head snapped to the side.

Onyx felt regret bubble up but she couldn’t stop herself now. She finally met those silver eyes and glared through the tears and the pain.

“You … you dare… call me by that name…?!”

Her voice cracked and Law’s eyes widened, an expression of shock and guilt flashing over his features. But Onyx couldn’t take being near this man any longer.

She’d heard enough.

She’d suffered enough.

“Goodbye Law.”

But once again she was stopped from leaving by a hand gripping her arm.

“If you don’t remove that immediately,” her voice was a low growl, “You will lose it.”

“I smell blood,” Law’s voice was equally low, “Let me treat your injuries.”

Onyx’s lips curled into a malicious smirk and she glared over her shoulder. She was met with a confused and regretful stare.

“It’s just an old wound reopening,” she hissed, “If you want it to heal, then get out of my sight!”

This time he didn’t stop her when she whirled around and stalked away. She held her head high until she rounded the corner.

Then she couldn’t do it anymore.

Onyx broke into a run, her hands pressed painfully against her chest as she stumbled over her boots.

_Dammit!_

She staggered down the dock and managed to clamber onto her boat.

_DAMMIT!_

Phantoms began pushing through her walls and invading her mind. She saw a small boy, full of anger and resentment, glaring at her from under his large white and black spotted hat.

_No, I don’t want to see this. If I think of him I think of-_

Other figures rose to the front of her mind and Onyx’s chest heaved under another wave of crippling pain.

The blood-loss induced dizziness hit her and she collapsed onto the deck, but she kept dragging her body into the cabin. She managed to reach her first aid box and tossed the lid back, rooting around for bandages.

She pulled some out and painfully shrugged off her trench coat. She hadn’t had to perform such an operation in years, but her hands remembered what to do.

Soon her shirt was up and over her head and the fresh blood was wiped away. She squashed a large piece of cloth over her chest and strapped it down with rolls of tape and bandages.

At last she slumped, exhausted, against the wall of the cabin.

“I was not prepared for that,” she groaned, running a hand through her sweaty hair, “He caught me off-guard.”

Whenever she’d seen Law in the past it had been on her own terms. She’d been able to fortify her mind and steel her thoughts before setting eyes on him.

Not this time.

Onyx’s eyes fell closed and she frowned into the darkness behind her eyelids.

_Deep breaths. In and out. Get a grip._

She jumped and snapped her eyes back open. For a fleeting moment, she swore she felt the soft tingle of a feathered cloak brushing against her cheek.

“I must still be in shock,” she muttered.

After a half-hour of gathering her strength, Onyx hauled herself to her feet and staggered across the room.

“And I didn’t even get my supplies,” she let out a tired sigh and collapsed onto her bed.

Within minutes darkness took her and she fell into a fretful sleep.

Outside, the ropes attaching the Flying Dodger to the pier suddenly fell limp and the small vessel began floating away from the island.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

The Heart Pirate’s submarine cruised above the waves, enjoying the beautiful sunshine that surrounded the island they had just resupplied at before leaving for the tumultuous weather that plagued the Grand Line.

There was a quiet hum of chatter as the crew went about steering the sub and putting away their recent purchases.

Law stared blankly at the happily dancing waves, his eyes almost hidden under the brim of his hat.

A dark silhouette was lurking in his mind and he couldn’t drive her away.

“Hey, Captain!”

Law frowned and brought two fingers up to massage his brow.

“What is it, Ikkaku?” he muttered as said brunette leaned down in front of him.

She smiled and walked around to lounge against the rail of the sub.

“Was that woman really your sister?” Ikkaku asked as she shrugged the sleeves of her boiler suit down to enjoy the sun, exposing her dark tank top underneath.

Law’s frown deepened and he leaned back in his chair, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

“We are not related by blood,” he snapped.

“Ooooh?” the woman’s intrigued reply only irked him more, “So is she your… mentor?”

The captain clicked his tongue but didn’t lift his hat.

“Something like that, I suppose,” he sighed.

“Wow, Captain~”

Law did not like that tone.

“So you’re into the big sister/teacher type then?” Ikkaku giggled.

His frown deepened and he lifted the brim of his hat with his thumb.

“Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not like that,” he snapped, “Now shouldn’t you be helping with navigation?”

Ikkaku sent him a pout but knew better than to argue. Law settled back into his chair and gladly returned to the darkness of his hat as the sole woman on his crew shuffled away.

As quiet fell over him once more, the pirate set to playing back his memories, however unpleasant, that involved a certain woman who always dressed in black.

_Have you been all alone this whole time, Onee-ya?_


	8. New Mission

Onyx kept her eyes vigilant as she stepped off the Dodger and onto the famous Judicial Island where the sun never set; Enies Lobby.

A group of men dressed in identical black suits waited on the sea train platform, quickly forming a semi-circle around her and escorting her down a dusty path. She was marched silently through the main gate and into a strange ‘town’ of brown clay buildings.

Onyx had to force herself not to stop and marvel at the impossible geography of the island; held by a thin strip of land, jutting out over the center of a huge, bottomless pit surrounded by tumbling water.

She made a mental note to come back and take in this scenery later before it disappeared behind another gate and she found herself in front of the Courthouse.

Their group was then greeted by a tall man with three heads who called himself Baskerville.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow at the man’s back as he turned and guided them across the building. From the way he was moving, Onyx had her suspicions that there was at least one extra body under those blue World Government robes.

 _Not my problem_ , she shrugged, wincing as the action shifted the bandage still taped across her chest.

She was escorted to the far side of the Courthouse, over a huge drawbridge, and into the headquarters of CP-9, the imposing Tower of Justice.

Onyx was marched through many halls and up and down many flights of stairs that all looked the same.

She got the feeling she was being purposefully led in circles to disorient her and began taking in more details of her surroundings.

She passed a hall lined with closed doors and a smile flit over her lips as she read the label stuck onto the nearest one.

 _Wolf’s Den_.

She knew whose room that must be.

Onyx glanced ahead and saw her escorts continuing on without her. A quick sidestep and a few silent paces were all she needed to disappear down the side hall. She swiftly knocked on the door before opening it without waiting for a response.

A peaceful Japanese-styled garden greeted her and, after swallowing her surprise, she let out a contented sigh.

Perhaps this was the reason she and the quick-tempered wolf man got along so well; they both preferred calm and quiet places.

Onyx smirked when she saw a man stretched out on his side, taking a nap against a large boulder in the center of the garden. His dark shirt hung open and a black tie hung loose around his neck, trailing over the grass.

Onyx walked over and crouched down in front of Jabra’s face.

“Hey,” she reached out and gently tapped his nose.

The man’s face scrunched up and he let out an annoyed growl before opening his eyes.

“I told you people to knock-!” he cut himself off and a grin spread over his face, “Babydoll!”

He sprang to his feet, dragging her up along with him.

“I did knock,” Onyx huffed as she shrugged his hand off her arm, “For a highly trained assassin you sure sleep like a rock.”

Jabra’s grin widened and he let out a hearty chuckle, running a finger down his long mustache.

“You just get here?” he asked, leaning back against the stone and crossing his arms over his bare chest.

Onyx nodded and watched as a rooster appeared from behind a bush and began pecking at the grass.

“Yeah, but I didn’t feel like meeting Spandam right away,” she muttered, “I’ve got a gut feeling he’ll ruin my good mood.”

A faint blush dusted Jabra’s cheeks and he flashed her a pleased smirk.

“Hehehe, I don’t blame you,” he pushed off the rock and walked passed her, “This is your first time here, right? Come on I’ll show you around.”

“No wonder they say this place is impregnable,” Onyx stared over the balustrade in awe.

Jabra had taken her to the top of the Tower of Justice in order to view the infamous Bridge of Hesitation and the unbelievably huge Gates of Justice, but Onyx’s attention had immediately been stolen by the waterfall encircling the practically floating island.

The rumbling crash of thousands of tons of water had quickly become background noise once she’d arrived on Enies Lobby, but now that sound came roaring back to her ears.

“This is amazing,” Onyx leaned out over the stone parapet and peered down to the distant Courtyard.

From this height, the large road which she had been marched up only minutes ago was no wider than her finger.

“This is what I want my island to be like,” she murmured, looking out once again to the unending waterfall and the gaping abyss below.

“You want to live here?” Jabra jumped up onto the parapet and squatted down, “This place is horrible. It’s so isolated. There’s nothing to do.”

Onyx smirked and straightened up.

“I think it’s perfect,” she hummed, “No one would bother me if they had to fly across a waterfall to get at me. I could finally get some peace and quiet. I’d retire and finally be left alone…”

Jabra eyed her from his perch, tilting his head to the side and frowning. Onyx quirked an eyebrow.

“You really mean that, don’t you?” he asked.

“Mean what?” Onyx lifted her gaze to watch a pair of gulls soar overhead.

“You want to be left alone,” he rubbed his mustache between his thumb and forefinger.

Onyx’s eyes widened.

Had she said that out loud?! Why the hell was she dropping her guard?!

She flicked a glare at Jabra, who was still crouching on the parapet, looking out into the abyss. Her mind flew back to the few times she’d run into the wolf man over the course of her journeys across the Grand Line and the Blues.

Out of all the Cipher Pol agents, by luck or happenstance, she had run into Jabra and his team the most. They were often given the far-flung missions, most likely due to their direct approaches and less than subtle techniques. But for some reason, barring their first meeting, each of her memories of their encounters had an air of calm and quiet to them.

Jabra had always sought out relaxing, isolated places to speak to her upon those meetings.

Onyx returned her attention to her surroundings. The roar of the waterfall covered up any other noise. The sounds of the gulls and the marching feet of the Marines far below were drowned out by the crash of tumbling water.

In its own way, this place was also calm and quiet.

She could close her eyes and forget about her mission, about the past, about the world and the thousands of people killing and betraying their way to the top….

She nodded but didn’t meet Jabra’s gaze.

“Yeah, people are just too… dishonest,” she sighed, “I only put up with them because I need their money.”

Private islands weren’t cheap, especially since she wanted to own the absolute rights to the surrounding waters as well.

“Hm,” Jabra grunted and leapt down from the parapet, “You know… I could just use Moon Walk to jump over the waterfall and visit you.”

Onyx blinked at his back as he walked off along the roof. Then a smirk lifted her lips and she followed after him.

“If you bring some of that sake I know you always keep around, I might just let you stay for dinner,” she hummed as they meandered back through the Tower of Justice.

After touring the many operating rooms and training areas, Jabra took her to a lounge where his fellow CP-9 agents, Fukuro and Kumadori, were entertaining themselves.

Onyx let her eyes rove around the spacious room, moving over the comfortable-looking couches and the bookshelves cluttering the walls.

But the two occupants weren’t using either of these luxuries.

Kumadori was currently doing a strange sort of headstand off in one corner, propping his large frame up with his extremely long, pinkish hair. As if sensing her stare, the pale man opened his eyes and observed her in return. His kabuki-styled makeup made his smirk seem quite exaggerated and dramatic.

“Well aren’t you in a good mood, YOYOI!” Kumadori said, his eyes moving to the man standing at her side.

“And why wouldn’t I be?” Jabra snapped, a growl rumbling through the back of his throat.

“Chapapa! Because you’ve been depressed ever since we got back from our mission and Gatherine dumped you!” Fukuro called loudly from the window he had been staring out of since they had entered.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and gave the blushing man beside her a worried frown.

“Really?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Chapapa! He was so excited when you said you were coming that he-!”

Fukuro was interrupted by a hard hit across his face, sending him flying back into the wall. Jabra loomed over his collapsed comrade, his body transformed partially into a wolf.

“SHUT YOUR DAMN HUGE MOUTH!!!” he shouted, “SHE DOESN’T NEED TO KNOW THAT!!”

Fukuro quickly recovered from the surprise attack and jumped up out of Jabra’s reach, somehow sticking to the ceiling.

“Careful, Chapapa,” he unzipped his large mouth to taunt his friend, “Lower your voice or Spandam will put you through another anger management class.”

“You were excited that I was coming?” Onyx drew the wolf man’s attention and his cheeks turned bright red.

“Well, yeah…,” he muttered, rubbing his neck in embarrassment as he shifted back into his human form, “It wasn’t fair that Lucci and Kaku got to see you, but I- _we_ didn’t.”

Onyx blinked and felt her lips begin to curl upwards. She quickly turned her face away but the glint in Jabra’s eye told her he had seen her smile.

Just then the door behind her opened and a new man entered the lounge.

“Oh? Who’s this-shao?”

Onyx turned and took in his slim figure, weasel-like face and whiskers, and large hooped earrings.

“Onyx,” she held out her hand and the man gently shook it, “You’re new around here.”

Jabra quickly diverted his attention from Fukuro and stalked back to her side.

“This is Nero,” his voice still held a growl, “He joined CP-9 a few months ago. We’re still putting him through his paces.”

Nero’s cheeks darkened somewhat and he glared at his superior.

“I’m a full-fledged agent!” he snapped.

Onyx’s smile faltered as an area on her right thigh began to sting.

_Really? The second thing I hear from your mouth is a lie?_

“You haven’t even mastered five of the Rokushiki techniques, YOYOI!” Kumadori exclaimed from his corner.

Nero glowered at the room in general before he took a breath and collected himself.

“What does CP-9 need with such a beautiful woman-shao?” he cocked an eyebrow and gave Onyx a hungry glance.

“HEY WATCH YOUR MOUTH-!”

Jabra’s shout was interrupted by Fukuro as he suddenly hurtled by, aiming straight for Onyx.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to dodge in time and her hand flew under her trench coat.

She drew out a black flintlock by the barrel and swung the pommel full force at the incoming agent. It collided with his chin at the same time her leg came up and she kicked her booted foot deep into his pudgy stomach.

“Awaaah!” Fukuro shot back across the room and tumbled to the ground in a heap.

“Hehe, nice kick,” Jabra sneered as the green haired man picked himself up off the floor.

Onyx didn’t respond. She was busy glaring daggers across the room.

“What the hell was that for?!” she growled.

“Chapapa,” Fukuro groaned and sat back up, “Interesting, very interesting.”

“What is?” the snap in her voice seemed to amuse Jabra and he rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down, Doll,” he said, “Fukuro was just using his Te-awase to calculate your Doriki level.”

“Eh?” Onyx frowned but relaxed her hold on her pistol.

“Chapapa,” Fukuro rubbed his stomach and zipped and unzipped his strange mouth, “You are surprisingly weak, Onyx.”

The woman blinked and then shrugged her shoulders, grimacing as her chest gave a painful twinge. The excessive movement must have reopened the wound.

“I know that,” she said, “I don’t specialize in combat. I rely on other ways to protect myself.”

“Eh?” Jabra stuck his neck out as he glared across at Fukuro, “So what’s her level?”

The round agent’s brow furrowed and he gave her a rare frown.

“If an average marine soldier has a Doriki level of 10, you are 100,” he stated.

There was a pause.

“100?!” Jabra’s jaw dropped and he turned to stare wide-eyed at Onyx, “You’re that weak?”

“Hey!”

She frowned and grabbed the wolf man’s shirt collar, dragging his face level with hers. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he was confronted with her direct anger.

“That means I’m worth at least 10 marines!” she let out a huff, “I’m actually surprised I have that much power.”

“Really?” Jabra’s expression shifted to amusement and he gently pat her hat, “Isn’t that cute. How the hell have you managed to stay alive this long? Even I would have trouble with some of the people you deal with on a daily basis, and my Doriki level is 2 180.”

A smirk lifted Onyx’s lips and she released him, brushing her long hair over her shoulder with a flourish.

“I have my ways,” she said, returning her pistol to the holster hidden beneath her trench coat, “Brute strength isn’t everything, you know.”

“WHERE’S THAT INFORMATION BROKER?!” an obnoxious, nasally voice suddenly shouted from behind the closed door.

Onyx rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Time for work,” she muttered as she headed for the hall.

“Try not to assault a government officer this time, Doll,” Jabra chuckled.

She threw a mischievous smirk over her shoulder as she opened the door.

When she had first met Jabra and his team, she had been a _little_ aggressive against his attempts at conversation.

He was an undercover assassin who specialized in lying, two things that had made her hate him on the spot.

But after Fukuro blabbed their whole plan and they dropped the act, she found she got along quite well with them.

Something that had yet to happen with the unit currently stationed in Water 7.

And unfortunately, she suspected such a change was impossible with the man she was about to meet.

“No promises,” she said before making her way towards Spandam’s office.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Nero watched her go with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Information broker-shao?” he turned questioningly to the other agents, “Is that woman really _the_ Black Heart Onyx?”

Kumadori gave him an upside-down nod and Fukuro unzipped his mouth.

“Chapapa, indeed she is,” he said, moving to sit on a couch, “The best informant in all the Underworld; at least that’s what some people say.”

Jabra shifted his feet as he glared at Nero, not liking the look on the newest recruit’s face.

“Yeah, that’s why that power level surprised the hell outta me,” the wolf man muttered, “She’s dealt with the Underworld, the World Government, the Warlords, and even the Emperors. How the hell can she be that physically weak?”

Nero flicked his eyes to the door where said woman had disappeared and licked his lips.

“It’s dangerous for such a beautiful woman to be so vulnerable-shao,” he murmured.

“Chapapa, careful newbie,” Fukuro’s quiet chuckle drew his attention and he turned to see a very large, very angry, wolf snarling down at him.

“You better not be thinking what I think you’re thinking,” Jabra’s primal growl sent a shiver down the young agent’s spine.

Nero’s face visibly paled and he quickly shook his head.

“N-no, I’m sure I’m not!” he took a few steps back before clearing his throat, “Well, I’m going to go train-shao.”

And with that he all but ran out of the room.

“Chapapa,” Fukuro tried to muffle his laugh, “The wolf is trying to defend his rebound crush.”

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?!” Jabra roared, turning his blazing eyes to the round man.

“But how tragic is it that she is not his to defend?” Kumadori swayed dramatically as he used his hair to lift himself onto his feet, “For the Black Heart is the jewel that sits at the bottom of the deepest, darkest, lake. Only those who brave the frigid waters may attempt to touch her lustrous beauty. YOYOI! It saddens me! I feel like I will cry! I shall rid the world of such a pathetic man!”

He withdrew a short knife and moved to stab his own stomach.

Jabra let out an angry snarl as he leapt across the room and punched Kumadori into the far wall.

“SHUT UP!” the wolf shifted back into his human form and stalked away without looking back.

Fukuro squinted after Jabra as he slammed the door on his way out.

“Chapapa,” he mused as Kumadori brushed himself off and went to peruse the bookshelf as if nothing had happened, “It is unusual for that man to stand up for another’s honour…”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Onyx tried her best not to glare at the man lounging in the large chair across from her. The sickening smile he gave her as he slid a folder across the desktop almost made her vomit.

She made a mental note to only accept calls, or preferably letters, from him in the future.

No more face to face visits.

Ever.

“There are rumours about a new rookie crew digging into things too big for them,” Spandam drawled, “Weak pirates, not worth a full scale investigation. We don’t know what they know, if anything at all.”

Onyx nodded as she read over the file. She didn’t recognize the names of the specific men involved, but blinked when she saw who their captain was.

“Eustass Kid?” she mused, “Last seen at Eric’s Landing… alright,” she snapped the folder closed and lifted her eyes to Spandam, “So what is he not supposed to know?”

“Anything regarding the ancient weapons, obviously,” Spandam replied, rolling his eyes, “The higher-ups will be on my back if I don’t send _someone_ after him. You should be grateful I’m employing you at all! You made my job so much harder by refusing to get me information on Pluton directly!”

Onyx let the fire burn in her eyes as she chilled him with a dark smile.

She’d had very good reasons to refuse that particular request, not that Spandam would remember…

“I’ll be sure to find out everything the Kid Pirates know, if they know anything at all,” she said sweetly before leaning down and resting her palms on the desk, “As for my payment. Regardless of the result of my mission, I will charge you an annoyance fee of two hundred million beris. If I find anything useful I will double that.”

“What?!” Spandam’s eyes widened and he pounded his desk furiously, “Are you trying to bleed me dry? How dare you demand so much from the government! You’re barely worth-!”

Her boot was up and slammed down onto his desk before he’d finished his sentence.

“I know my worth, Spandam _dear_ ,” she spoke slowly and quietly, relishing the fear that filled his bloodshot eyes.

She leaned down and ran a lock of his lanky purple hair through her fingers, suppressing her shudder at being so close to the man.

“I suggest you shut up now, unless you want Sengoku to know exactly what you did to cover up that last failed mission.”

Spandam’s mouth snapped shut and he gave her a furious glare from under a flustered blush. Onyx smirked and slid a paper out of her pocket and across his desk.

“Sign on the dotted line,” she forced out a sultry whisper.

It was worth it to see the sweat that immediately coated Spandam’s forehead as he eagerly scribbled out his name.

“W-w-what are you doing?” he stammered while trying to give her a revolting attempt at a seductive grin.

“My deposit,” Onyx reached out and ran her fingertip along his cheek before holding out her hand.

Spandam’s expression shifted to a scowl, but the heavy blush remained on his cheeks as he opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope.

Onyx stepped back as he stood and moved to a safe hidden in the corner of the room.

“Turn around!” he snapped at her.

Onyx rolled her eyes but did as he asked. It wasn’t like she needed to see him unlocking it to figure out the combination.

She wiped the finger that had touched the vile man’s skin along her jacket before she closed her eyes and listened to the almost imperceptible shift of the old tumblers as they fell into place.

3…1...6…9…

Onyx cocked an eyebrow as the safe door thudded open.

 _That’s awfully short for a government combo_ , she mused, _I bet he changed it because he couldn’t remember anything longer._

Her opinion of this man grew lower and lower the longer she was in this room.

The safe clunked shut and she turned around to see Spandam counting out one hundred million beris in notes.

“There!” he spat as he threw the full envelope at her.

Onyx returned this with a sneer before she counted up the money herself; she wouldn’t even trust this man to give her the right time of day.

She was actually surprised when the amount was correct and offered him a piercing stare before whirling around.

“See you later, Spandam _dear_ ,” she waved over her shoulder before slamming the door with all her might.

“Hey! Wait, don’t leave yet, I need to-!”

BAM!

Onyx smiled as the blissful quiet of the hall enveloped her ears.

“Wow, two ‘dears’,” a low whistle drew her eyes to her right, “That’s threat level four.”

She was surprised, and not entirely happily so, to find Jabra leaning against the wall just outside the slime ball’s office.

“I heard you lay down the law in there,” the wolf man fell into step alongside her, “Nicely done.”

Onyx glared at the floor.

“Honestly, putting up with him is _not_ worth the money,” she growled, “I won’t be coming here in the future, that’s for sure.”

“Hehe,” Jabra’s chuckle drew an annoyed hiss from her, “Why did you come this time?”

Her anger faded slightly and she gave the wolf man a coy wink.

“A new place, a new adventure. And how else would I be able to see you?” she teased, enjoying the flush that moved over his cheeks.

But she was surprised when he grew quiet and dropped his gaze.

_Oh shit… Gatherine… not the time, Onyx…_

“Sorry,” she mumbled, turning her eyes to the hall ahead, “… How are you doing, Jabra?”

The man remained silent as they made their way towards his room. He opened the door and walked in, leaving Onyx on the threshold, unsure if he wanted her to follow.

His uncharacteristic silence spoke volumes.

Jabra reached the rock at the center of his garden and sat down on it, his back still to the door. Onyx watched his long braid sway as he rested his chin in his palm. The rooster had moved from the grass to the small pagoda in the corner and was sitting quietly on the wooden steps.

“Damn woman was only after me for my looks,” Jabra finally spoke, “She dumped me because she wanted to chase after Lucci.”

Onyx frowned and stepped inside, closing the door quietly behind her.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said softly, walking over and leaning forward on the rock at his side, “I bet a lot of women throw themselves at you. It isn’t your fault you picked a bad egg. Don’t get yourself too down, big guy. You’ll find someone better.”

She tilted her head up and smiled when she saw Jabra’s calm expression. His shoulders released their tension as he stared into the pond in front of them.

The soothing tap of the shishi-odoshi was the only thing that broke the comfortable silence for a long time.

“Yeah,” Jabra finally shifted and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, smirking when Onyx jumped at his sudden movement, “Someone much better.”

Onyx let her smile widen.

“That’s it, Wolf Man,” she nodded, “Come on. Let’s go for a walk to get your mind off things.”

Onyx quickly applied some of the pink lipstick Franky had given her and made sure the rest of her makeup was smudge free.

She reached under her bed and took out a small box full of different coloured contact lenses and rifled through it until she pulled out a lilac purple set.

“These will do nicely,” she mused as she leaned in close to the mirror to put in them in. “And the final touch,” she brushed out the strawberry blond tresses of her wig, “There.”

She threw open the door of her cabin and strut out on deck.

Jabra was lounging against the rail, watching the water lap over the sea train tracks. But he straightened and let out a low whistle when she made her appearance.

“Wow, not many women could pull off something like that,” Jabra licked his lips as his eyes roved up and down her body, taking in her long-sleeved, high-necked, green jumpsuit, “You know… you’d look even better in red.”

Onyx fought the heat on her cheeks and blinked as her contacts shifted into their proper place.

“Red? Why?” she wiped her watering eyes.

“It’s my favourite colour,” Jabra smirked.

Onyx hummed in acknowledgement, a bit distracted by giving herself a once over.

“So that’s your disguise?” Jabra’s tone became almost disapproving.

Onyx cocked a penciled eyebrow at him.

“For now,” she said, adjusting the jumpsuit around her hips, “I always guess at their tastes for my preliminary investigations.”

“Hmph,” Jabra crossed his arms, “So that’s what you meant when you said strength wasn’t everything. If that’s the case you should show some more skin.”

Onyx sent him an irritated scowl as her cheeks flushed at his insinuation.

“That is _not_ what I meant!” she grumbled, “Seduction is always my last resort. But men tend to drop their guard around a beautiful woman.”

To prove her point she strut towards the wolf man, making sure to swing her hips in a way that made his jaw drop.

Jabra’s face paled before flushing a bright red.

Onyx smirked and brought her fingers up to play teasingly along her lips.

“Excuse me, sir?” she pouted, “I’m a little lost. Could you help me to the nearest inn?”

Jabra let out a growl and shifted abruptly into his half wolf form. Onyx blinked as he leapt away from her and bared his teeth.

“Well that’s a new reaction,” she stared in amusement and confusion, “You alright?”

Jabra blinked and then became flustered.

“I-I didn’t mean-!” he looked anywhere but at her, “It’s just too weird when you don’t look like yourself. I didn’t even know a onesie could look sexy. Fuckin’ creepy!”

Onyx continued her stare.

“Um… okay then,” she turned away and cleared her throat, “Well, I’ll be setting off now. You should probably get back.”

She heard Jabra’s footsteps approaching from behind.

“Hey,” he growled, “Watch your back, okay? That particular rookie is pretty fierce.”

Onyx suppressed her eye roll and smirked over her shoulder. She was greeted by a large grey snout since Jabra hadn’t returned to his human form yet.

“I guess I shouldn’t have let Fukuro test my power level,” she mused, “You’ll all worry about me now.”

Jabra frowned and looked away.

“Don’t count on it, Babydoll,” he growled, patting her shoulder once before dropping his hand, “I know you can take care of yourself.”

Onyx smiled and reached up to rub the top of his head.

“What a good boy!” she teased, scratching lightly behind his ears.

“Tch!” Jabra brushed her hand off and stalked back onto the pier, “Get going already!”

Onyx watched his tail wag with a smirk.

“Will do,” she called, hoisting the sail as Jabra untied her boat, “See you later, Wolf Man.”

She nudged the rudder until the prow was facing the western horizon and the Dodger leapt joyously over the waves.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“Stay safe, Babydoll,” Jabra muttered under his breath as he watched Onyx set off, not once looking back at him, “Maybe next time we meet I should take the dive, eh? Your waters are warmer than they used to be...”

He turned and started back towards the Tower of Justice.

“… I wonder what changed.”

“Oooi!”

His eyes shifted to the road as the thud of hurried footsteps came up the path toward him.

“Where is she?!” Spandam came puffing into view, sweat dripping down his forehead, “Where’s Black Heart?!”

Jabra pointed his thumb over his shoulder, cocking an eyebrow at his boss. Spandam made it a point never to exercise. Why was he so worked up?

“She just set out,” he said.

Spandam’s eyes bulged from their sockets and his hands flew up to grab at his hair.

“Arg! No! I was supposed to put this on her boat!”

He waved a small, shell-less transponder snail clenched in his fist. Its purple flesh wrinkled in protest at being exposed to the warm sunlight.

Jabra snatched the snail and held it in his splayed palm, frowning at it.

“This is for tracking people,” he moved his stare back to Spandam, “Why do you want to track Onyx?”

“I’m not required to tell you anything!” Spandam muttered, his expression equal parts terrified and furious, “But if you must know, it was a special task given to me by the Fleet Admiral himself! Hurry! Get out there and put this on her without her knowing!”

But Jabra quickly shook his head.

“There’s no way I could sneak up on her while she’s sailing,” he grunted, passing the snail back to his boss, “If you didn’t want her to know, you should have told Fukuro to plant it while she was in your meeting.”

Spandam threw his hands in the air and turned around, skulking back the way he had come.

Jabra slowly followed after him.

 _Be careful, Babydoll_ , he turned to look back at the western horizon, _the big fish are getting hungry._


	9. Back to Work

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a bit more adventurous with Killer here and in the net few chapters. But I kinda like how he turned out ;P

Onyx found the Kid Pirates causing a ruckus in one of the seedier bars of Eric’s Landing. Which was saying something of the establishment, since it was located on an island so overrun by pirates that the Marines had given up on trying to restore order.

Before entering the rundown tavern, Onyx did a once over of the equipment hidden away under her unassuming green jumpsuit.

The reassuring weight of her favourite pistol caressed her stomach and the confidence boosting tools of her trade could be felt rubbing along her arms and legs.

Everything was in its proper place.

She tucked a bobby-pin out of sight before pushing the stained and damaged door open and weaving her way through the crowded bar, finding a relatively clean table near the back wall.

Her target was currently sitting in the midst of the partying pirate crew that occupied the center of the restaurant.

Onyx eyed his long, wavy blue hair and the strange markings stitched onto his face.

His attire matched that of the rest of his crew, which was… interesting. A dark blue corset was all that adorned his torso and his baggy red pants were held up by a thick holster. Two swords hung from his belt, but they were currently pushed around to his back to allow better access to food.

Heat.

A strange name, but she was in no place to judge.

Onyx picked up the menu and let her eyes flit between the food and the man while she recalled the details from the file Spandam had given her.

It seemed that Heat and another member of the Kid Pirates, Killer, had been poking around the archives of a certain library. As it turned out, the caretaker of that library was an informant for the Marines and quickly passed on the suspicious activity.

 _Pretty paranoid if you ask me_ , Onyx glanced up as a waitress approached the blue haired pirate with another full tankard, _if it’s in a library anyone could have access._

Looking back, that should have been her first red flag.

Onyx waved the same waitress down as she returned to the kitchen and gave her her order. Then she settled in to observe her target.

Comparing Heat’s behaviour to that of the rest of the top men of the Kid Pirates, she had to say he was quite reserved. Definitely the easiest to approach.

She’d chosen well.

Then again, as soon as she’d seen Killer’s headshot she knew Heat would be her best option. A man with a mask was not an informant’s first choice in anything…

After about an hour of taking note of Heat’s mannerisms, attitude, and inclination towards violence (which was surprisingly low for a man of his stature), Onyx decided it was about time to introduce herself.

She had just swallowed the last of her chicken-pot-pie when she caught a shift of intent somewhere in the murky crowd. She stiffened as a strong presence approached through the dim light.

 _I’m a fool for thinking this would go smoothly_ , she pouted.

“If you want to ask Heat out for the night, go ahead,” a deep voice spoke from above her, “I think there’s a good chance of him saying yes.”

Onyx tilted her face just enough to see the tall, deceptively slim, man standing behind her.

She smirked as her eyes moved up his jeans and dark, loosely buttoned dress shirt to arrive at the striped mask covering his face and the cascade of thick blond hair shielding most of his back.

“And what makes you think he’s the one I’m interested in, Massacre Soldier?” she hummed.

The man crossed his arms over his well-toned chest and his whole body tensed.

Onyx suddenly got the sense that he was a spring wound tight and ready to go off.

_I’ll have to tread carefully here…_

“Well you’ve been eyeing him since you came in,” his head tilted forward slightly.

Onyx paused.

He certainly was observant if he’d picked up on her in such a crowded place.

“I have to admit he is quite attractive,” she mused, motioning to the chair opposite her in a flimsy attempt to reel Killer in. She hadn’t made up her mind yet but there was no harm in trying, “But I doubt very much that I’m his type.”

To her surprise, the man quickly took the offered seat and ordered a drink.

_… Okay…_

“Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on your captain, Massacre Soldier?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow at him as Eustass Kid let out a booming laugh and the crash of glass rang over the noise of the crowd.

“Call me Killer,” the man’s tone didn’t change but Onyx sensed something had shifted, “And I’ll step in if things start to get out of hand.”

She leaned forward and took a sip of her drink, taking care not to smudge her lipstick.

“Alright then… Killer,” she said, “To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?”

It was so hard to read the man in his stupid mask. She watched his body language for any hint of his intent and saw his fingers twitch momentarily.

“Can’t a man introduce himself to a beautiful woman?” he asked.

Onyx blinked in surprise.

“Okay, I agree that I’d have a chance with your friend Heat,” she smirked, “But there’s no way I’m your type. I get the feeling you go for the tall, willowy, clingy girls.”

A sound resembling a chuckle rumbled through Killer’s chest and he rested an arm on the table.

“You’re tall,” he offered.

“So one out of three is still a pass?” Onyx’s smirk grew, “You sure are easy to please.”

“I’m told I’m actually quite hard to please,” Killer’s shoulders relaxed a smidge.

Onyx had to force her eyes away from the way his hair outlined his shoulders and the sliver of sun-tanned skin alluringly displayed by the undone buttons down his chest.

 _Not good_ , she groaned internally.

“Well if I’m going to entertain such a fine man I should freshen myself up,” she suddenly stood, “Pardon me.”

She stepped around the table but the tip of her shoe caught on the leg and she staggered dangerously.

A slim but rock hard forearm saved her from hitting the floor and Onyx easily brought a flush to her cheeks as she regained her balance.

“Sorry about that,” she gave an embarrassed grunt and gently stepped away, “I swear I’m not usually that clumsy.”

“Did you just do that to get into my arms?” Killer sounded quite amused and Onyx gave him a shy smirk.

“You see right through me and my tricks,” she chuckled, “I can see you are out of my league. I won’t be insulted if I don’t find you here when I come back. The night is still young. Go enjoy yourself, Killer.”

She turned and made her way to the ladies room.

 _How should I play this?_ she wondered as she retouched her lipstick in the warped and dirty mirror, _if he’s still there he must suspect something. There’s no way he would linger if all he wanted was a fuck…_

If he was still there when she got back, she’d give it a shot. If not, Heat was still her favoured target.

Though she was curious to see if Killer would even let her get near his other crewmates.

A stall door behind her banged opened and a tall, slender woman stepped up to the sinks. Onyx gave her a quick once over via the mirror, noting the long pink coat covering a tight tank top and miniskirt. Her brown hair was cropped short and her eyes were hidden behind a pair of bright yellow sunglasses.

There was a pause in which Onyx suspected the woman was also looking her over. Then the stranger took the sink right next to her, despite there being two others further down, and began washing her hands.

Onyx fixed her eyes on her own reflection, pulling up the collar of her jumpsuit and tugging the sleeves down to fully cover her wrists. Her movements were smooth and relaxed but her senses were on high alert.

No one had spoken, yet she felt as if this woman had just insulted her.

And Onyx always trusted her gut.

She slowly rinsed her own hands and patted them dry on her thighs (there was no way she was going to touch that disgusting hand towel). Without turning her back to the only other occupant of the bathroom, she stepped toward the door.

“Give me the notebook and I will let you live.”

Onyx froze and turned a burning glare to the woman.

_I knew it._

“Pardon?” she snapped.

The woman smirked, lifting a hand to adjust her sunglasses.

“I won’t give you another chance, Black Heart,” she spoke in a professional, assertive tone.

Onyx let out a scoff and moved to toss her hair over her shoulder, though since her wig was significantly shorter than her real hair it just looked like she’d tried to flip the woman off but had thought better of it half-way through.

“May I at least know the name of the assassin who’ll take my life?” she mused, curling her lip in a sneer.

“I suppose I’ll allow you that final wish,” the woman’s sunglasses glinted in the dim light of the bathroom, “Rena of the Shimmering Hands will be the last person you see in this world.”

Onyx blinked in recognition.

The woman’s arm lashed out and a short knife was suddenly flying right at her face. The blade skimmed Onyx’s cheek, missing her flesh by a hair, and plunged deep into the wall behind her.

 _Shimmering Hands_ , she staggered back and wracked her memory, _Works for the Rusty Red Syndicate. Specializes in close combat knife work and poisons. It’s been a while since any of them have come after me._

“Aren’t you a little far from home? Rusty Red doesn’t usually venture out of the South Blue,” Onyx fished for time as she grabbed the hilt of the dagger and yanked it from the wall, “What gave me away?”

Rena wasn’t giving her any chances. She swooped in with another knife and Onyx barely got her stolen weapon up to block. An uncomfortable tugging sensation passed over her chest, but it seemed the wound had healed enough and didn’t reopen.

“Where are you keeping all these?” Onyx panted as they fought for dominance.

“You’d know all about that,” Rena smirked, running her eyes down Onyx’s form, “Though I admit you have a slight advantage with that… less than flattering number.”

Onyx glared and shifted her foot, using the new angle to push Rena back.

“Skin tight just isn’t my style,” she muttered, adjusting her grip on the dagger and facing off with the assassin, “Plus it makes it almost impossible to see what I’m hiding.”

Rena gave an amused hum and drew another knife out from her bosom.

“We women have an upper hand in that regard though, don’t we?” she giggled coquettishly and made an advance.

Onyx blocked her first swing but had to duck as the second knife closed in on her neck.

She stumbled back, twisting under Rena’s momentum and slamming into the sinks. She managed to bite back a pained groan but Rena didn’t stop there, pushing her down until her head bumped against the faucet.

“And let’s just say most women don’t obviously pick their seat to strategically observe a certain man and then proceed to watch him without even attempting to hide her gaze,” Rena sneered, “I was told you were the best of the best. I am disappointed.”

Onyx frowned and brought her leg up, catching Rena’s thigh and kicking out as hard as she could.

She was glad she’d kept her combat boots.

The added weight sent Rena flying across the small room, crashing through a stall door and slamming back into the toilet. The assassin quickly got back on her feet, but Onyx noted she was now favouring her uninjured leg.

She straightened and rubbed her sore back.

“You were told? By who?” she muttered, “I never claimed to be the best at anything.”

Rena’s annoying smile faltered and she waved her knives through the air. The blades caught the light and shimmered a rainbow of colours. Onyx recognized the characteristics of Velvet Night, the deadly poison that was a favourite among assassins in the South Blue and which gave this particular agent her name.

“I’m afraid that’s classified,” Rena hissed and lunged forward.

Onyx froze, her mind scrambling to defend herself.

She couldn’t block both knives, Rena would see through her moves and could easily outmanoeuver Onyx. The assassin was highly trained in speed and stealth; her goal would be to hit once and then let the poison do the dirty work.

Onyx’s eyes focused in on Rena’s leg. She knew she was physically stronger than her opponent.

 _I’m worth 10 marines after all_ , she smirked despite the situation.

As Rena’s knives closed in, Onyx leapt into action. She dropped the dagger in her hand and reached into her jumpsuit, withdrawing her black flintlock from its hidden holster.

The gun gave her enough reach and the butt came down on Rena’s left shoulder before she came within striking distance, sending a shockwave down her arm and knocking the knife out of her hand.

But the assassin kept coming and the second blade was dangerously close.

Onyx lifted her foot again, planting another solid kick on the exact same spot as before. The repeated assault was too much and Rena jerked sideways as her leg gave out.

The poison coated blade sliced through the air inches from Onyx’s neck as Rena went sprawling.

Onyx lost no time in jumping onto the assassin’s back.

In one fluid movement she pinned both of the woman’s arms under her boots and crouched down over her shoulder blades. Once her enemy was immobilized, Onyx reached her right hand down and rested her fingers on Rena’s exposed neck.

“Tell me who sent you,” she said.

The assassin let out a hiss and tried wrenching her arms free, almost dislocating her shoulders in the process.

“Give me a name,” Onyx spoke calmly, pressing more weight onto Rena’s wrists.

But the assassin’s lips remained tightly closed.

Onyx let out a sigh and pressed the barrel of her gun against Rena’s temple.

“Who wants my notebook?” she asked again, cocking the pistol.

Rena smirked.

“Everyone,” she panted, grimacing in pain.

Onyx waited but she was still not given a name. She let out another sigh, twisting her boot heel into Rena’s wrist.

“I suppose it was stupid of me to expect an answer from a Syndicate assassin,” she said, “But I can find out through other means.”

Keeping Rena pinned under her, Onyx returned the gun to her jumpsuit and pulled out a black notebook. She briefly skimmed the pages before dropping it to the ground in front of the agent’s nose. Then she reached down and rested her left hand on Rena’s cheek.

“Here’s what you want,” she told the assassin as a tingling warmth passed through her fingertips, “This is the notebook you stole from me. You grabbed it from me while I was washing my hands. I never noticed. You slipped on the wet floor and fell.”

Onyx stepped off the woman and turned to the sink. She splashed some water onto the floor and then slowly began washing her hands, watching Rena’s reflection in the mirror.

The assassin lay where she’d dropped for a few moments, her eyes still hidden behind those yellow sunglasses and her mouth hanging slightly open.

Then she seemed to snap out of a daydream and looked around. She spotted the notebook and snatched it up, briefly leafing through it before shoving it into her coat pocket.

Onyx fixed a politely concerned smile on her face and looked over her shoulder.

“Are you alright?” she asked in a friendly voice, “You really took a tumble there.”

Rena’s head snapped to her but there was already an embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

“Y-yes, I’m fine,” she stood up and brushed herself off.

Onyx turned back to the mirror as Rena moved towards the bathroom door.

The assassin stumbled and cast a worried frown to her leg, where a nasty bruise was starting to appear.

Onyx held her breath.

 _Shit!_ She’d forgotten to cover for the injuries!

She tensed, but Rena just shook her head and limped out, letting the door swing shut behind her.

Onyx waited for a few minutes before she let out her breath. A glint from the floor caught her eye and she looked down to see three discarded poisonous blades.

Onyx stared, then steeled herself and grabbed the filthy hand towel, gingerly wrapping the knives up and putting them into a pocket of her jumpsuit.

“Just another day at work,” she grumbled as she fixed her appearance in the mirror.

A smirk lifted her lips as she wondered what Killer would think of her long absence, if he’d stuck around at all.


	10. Caught in the Alley

When Onyx returned to the bar, she saw, to her great surprise, that Killer was still sitting at her table.

 _I was kinda hoping he’d leave_.

Onyx swallowed her resignation and surveyed the large, dingy room. She saw no sign of Rena in the shifting crowd and promptly thrust all thought of her recent scuffle to the back of her mind. She needed to be on-point now.

With a roll of her shoulders she strut back to her table.

“What a gentleman,” she cooed as she sat down, “Could it be that I’ve _fallen_ into your heart?”

Killer’s demeanor appeared completely relaxed as he tilted his head towards her. Even so, that blank, unreadable mask but her on edge.

“You’ve definitely piqued my interest,” he chuckled, “And I’ll be honest. I’ve never seen a woman pull off a green jumpsuit as well as you can.”

Onyx blushed and let out a huff.

“Why are you the second person who’s told me that?” she muttered, taking a grumpy sip of her beer before shrugging, “Well, I’m not the type of woman to spurn a compliment. Especially one from such a gentleman.”

They both gave soft chuckles before settling into a more serious silence.

Onyx kept her expression warm despite the sudden chill that ran through her gut.

If this man had a chink in his amour, she’d have to really work to find it… Perhaps a direct approach would be easiest? Or would he clam up?

_Damn it, I should have been faster and gotten to Heat._

Killer reached for his drink and Onyx blinked at the straw sticking out of his tankard. He promptly lifted the beer to his mask and stuck the straw through one of the holes close to where Onyx imagined his mouth should be.

She watched in amusement as he took a few deep sips before her eyes drifted over his shoulder to see Heat laughing with another tall man wearing a dark cape and fishnets.

“Who’s that stoic gentleman?” she asked motioning to the new man.

Killer turned his head briefly.

“That’s Wire, another member of my crew,” he said as his masked fixed on her again, “You sure seem interested in us, Miss…?”

He left the question dangling and Onyx smiled, offering her right hand across the table. Killer lifted his arm and gently caressed her fingertips.

“How rude of me,” she bowed her head, “My name is Mikano, and it’s a pleasure to meet you, Killer.”

“Mikano…,” Killer hummed as their hands parted, “I can’t help but feel we’ve met before. You seem familiar.”

Onyx tilted her head to the side, letting the orange tresses of her wig fall across her shoulder.

Was he making this easy on purpose?

_Something else is going on here._

A pair of yellow sunglasses flashed through her mind. Could Rena have set Killer on to her as a distraction?

“I was just thinking the same thing,” she played along, running a finger around the rim of her mug, “I was on Stratta Island a little while ago. We may have glimpsed each other there.”

Her words had an effect. Killer’s relaxed shoulders tensed slightly and she could feel his stare boring into her from behind his mask.

“Stratta?” the man took another sip of his drink, “We were on that island about a week ago.”

Onyx nodded and leaned back in her chair.

“Well that solves that mystery then,” she put on her cutest smile, “We must have seen each other in the crowd or something. I never forget a face… or mask. Especially such interesting men as the Kid Pirates.”

Killer tensed further and she caught a brief shift in his position. Was he trying to look behind him?

Onyx let her eyes flick over his shoulder to Heat, who was now focused on his plate of mysteriously grey meat.

A few tense seconds passed and Onyx got the feeling Killer was making an important decision about something. When he finally spoke, she actually jumped a little.

“Speaking of interesting… what you were doing on Stratta?” Killer sipped on his beer, “That’s quite a rough area for a young woman to be in. Do you travel alone?”

Onyx waved down a waitress and ordered another drink.

“Young? Hehe, you’re quite the flatterer,” Onyx smiled, opting to ignore his second question, “There’s a well-stocked library on Stratta. I was just doing some research.”

“Oh? On what?”

“My father’s got a big farm back home and wants to expand his crop variety,” she quickly wove a modified version of her usual backstory, “I was looking for information on crops from other islands with similar climates. It’s much easier than actually travelling far and wide.”

Killer paused and his legs shifted under the table, turning his body to face her fully.

“A farmer’s daughter?” doubt laced every word, “And yet you were on Stratta, and now you’re here. Eric’s Landing isn’t a good place for people who aren’t pirates or who don’t… cater to pirates.”

Onyx nodded her head and shrugged.

“Yes, I know. I’m on my way home now,” she said, “I intend to leave as soon as I’m done here.”

Killer seemed to accept this and a silence fell over their table.

Eustass Kid’s laugh rang around the bar once again, followed by a female shriek that quickly changed into a giggle. Onyx took a gulp of her drink and sat back in her chair.

“If you don’t mind me asking, since you’ve got me curious now,” she tilted her head to the side, “What were _you_ doing on Stratta? Other than that library, there isn’t much there that would be of interest to pirates.”

Killer created a pause by taking a long sip of his beer. When he finally lowered his tankard Onyx was still at a loss as to what his intentions were.

She did not like this intriguing man and his gorgeous blond hair and his stupid mask.

Not at all.

If this last dig didn’t work she was going for Heat.

“Actually we were looking into information on weapons,” Killer said.

Onyx blinked.

She waited, but felt no stinging on her body.

“Weapons?” she didn’t have to fake the curiosity in her voice.

“My captain is kind of a collector,” the mask bobbed slightly as he spoke, “He has a habit of taking an interest in dangerous things.”

“I see,” Onyx shrugged, “I suppose that would make sense for a pirate. But why would you be looking for weapons in a library?”

“Not so much the weapons themselves as information on their whereabouts.”

 _The whereabouts of weapons? Maybe they_ were _looking into the Ancient ones…_

“Like legends?” Onyx leaned forward, “Are you searching for mythical weapons? I didn’t know pirates believed in those kinds of things.”

Killer took another sip of his beer.

“Aren’t pirates free to believe whatever they want?” he asked.

Onyx frowned and shrugged.

“I guess,” she agreed, “A mythical weapon would be a great addition to any collection.”

Killer nodded.

“It would have been. But we didn’t find anything useful,” he sighed.

Onyx’s eyes sharpened as her forearm suddenly stung.

_Here we go._

“Aww, that’s too bad,” she made her gaze pitying, “I hate when trips are a waste of time. Isn’t there somewhere else you could get information? I’m sure there are plenty of old men around here ready to share their tall tales with you. There might be some clues there.”

Killer leaned back and shook his head.

“I appreciate your concern,” he said, “But the weapons we were looking into aren’t exactly part of the common knowledge.” He took a long drink of his beer and stifled a belch, “Besides, Kid tends to have a short attention span. If we don’t find out anything else soon he’ll move on to something else.”

_Why the hell is he just telling me this?_

Onyx chuckled, letting her shoulders bounce lightly as she leaned on the table. Another sharp sting pricked her shoulder blade.

_A direct approach it is._

“I hope so. You must be looking into some dangerous stuff,” she mused, running a finger across her lower lip, “I hope they aren’t… those Ancient Weapons people whisper about.”

Killer’s shoulders tensed and his fingers clenched his tankard so hard the sides started caving in.

“Mm well,” Onyx gave him a sly smile, “I guess that answers that.”

“And that’s not something a farmer’s daughter should know,” the masked man leaned forward, almost knocking his plate to the floor as he reached for her.

Onyx dodged his hand and dropped a few beris on the table.

Time to back off. She would change her disguise and come back later for the details.

But before she had time to retreat, a loud voice boomed from above and both she and Killer froze.

“Come on, Killer, we’re getting out of here.”

Onyx stiffened and glanced over her shoulder.

She was met with fierce amber eyes glinting down at her.

“Who’s this doll?” Eustass Kid loomed over the table in all his fiery glory, “You don’t usually go for bimbos, Killer.”

 _Bimbo?_ Onyx managed to smother her glare.

The sneer plastered on his pale face made him looked quite threatening. But Onyx cocked her head to the side and offered the intimidating red beast a coy smile.

“Why hello, Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid,” she hummed, looking him up and down, “Your wanted poster certainly doesn’t do you justice.”

She got a raised eyebrow and a hungry smirk in return. But the scrape of a chair from behind reminded her that Killer was still within grabbing distance.

Onyx did not want to face the two top men of the Kid Pirates, especially with the rest of their crew four tables away.

“I’m sorry to disappoint such fine men,” she leapt up and slid easily past the redhead, “But I must be on my way. Catch you later!”

“Hang on-!”

She heard Killer’s shout but managed to duck out the door before either of them could follow her.

Onyx sprinted down the street and came to a skidding halt at the entrance to a dark alley. She spun on her heels and took off down the sketchy side street, jumping over the astounding amount of pitiful drunks sprawled in the mud.

She slowed her pace as the far end of the alley came into view and pulled her notebook out of her jumpsuit.

This, of course, was her _real_ notebook.

She always kept a fake or two planted on her at all times. Many people had tried to steal her knowledge over the years and she had quickly learned how to best mislead them.

Onyx smirked as she thought of the reactions whoever had ordered Rena after her would have when they finally decoded her writing only to find it full of flowery descriptions of various seashells and molluscs.

She was sorry she wouldn’t be there to see it.

Onyx turned her attention back to the book in her hands. A pen was stuck as a bookmark at the next empty page and she quickly wrote down what she’d just found out, including the attempt on her life and livelihood.

“That did not go as planned,” she hummed as she tucked the notebook safely away again, “But it wasn’t a total failure.”

“I agree.”

An iron grip latched onto her wrist and Onyx suddenly found herself staring into a blue and white striped mask.

_Shit! Why didn’t I sense him?!_

A hard wall slammed into her back, knocking the air from her lungs and quickly rendering her a gasping mess.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rough,” Killer leaned over her and Onyx felt his weight pressing on her thighs.

“Ugh… you sure know how to impress a lady,” she growled once her lungs had remembered how to work, “Is this how you get all your girls?”

Killer let out a grunt and Onyx caught the glint of metal as a large scythe blade was brought against her neck.

“I usually don’t have to resort to violence,” he said, “You almost pulled a fast one on me. I’ll have a word with your provider about it.”

Onyx’s eyes flashed.

“My provider?” she hissed through gritted teeth.

“Aren’t you one of the call girls here?” Killer asked.

“Fuck no!” Onyx’s lips twisted into a scowl, “Is that why you were so cooperative? Were you trying to talk me into bed with you?”

_No, he gave away too much to simply want me to sleep with him…_

Her body stiffened as the man ran the tip of his blade along her cheek. Her fingers leapt up to clench his wrist, but her grip did nothing.

 _How many marines is he worth?_ she sarcastically wondered, making a note to yell at Fukuro about his pointless power scaling when she got back to Enies Lobby.

“We weren’t looking into anything that would raise suspicion,” Killer said, his shoulders relaxing as he toyed with her, “There was no harm in answering your questions.”

Onyx squinted at him as her kneecap stung.

 _Oh so_ now _he’s trying to lead me off?_

“You’re smarter than that, Massacre Soldier,” she snapped, “Information is as good as beris in this world. No one just gives it away freely. What do you want?”

The man shifted his position until he had completely enveloped her body. Onyx wondered how he could do this when they were of comparative heights; in fact, she was slightly taller.

Maybe it was just his aura… so intimidating. Befitting of the second in command of the most brutal rookie crew killing their way through the Grand Line.

His knee pushed between her thighs and his chest pressed her further into the wall. Onyx heard the squish of mud as his heels dug in.

A few shouts rose in the distance but no one had ventured into the alley.

The drunks paid them no heed.

“Who sent you?” Killer asked, “And who are you?”

Onyx pouted.

“I’m just a simple farmer’s daughter,” she said.

Killer hesitated, then he lowered his blade and sheathed it.

Onyx’s eyes followed his fingers as they inched towards her hair and started playing with some flyaway strands of strawberry blonde…. Then tapped on an exposed bobby-pin.

_Fuck._

Her hairpiece had come loose in the brief struggle and it had evidently shifted enough to arouse suspicion.

Her scowl returned as the masked man tugged and the pins keeping her wig on gave way.

“Ouch!” she hissed as her black tresses fell free, tumbling around her face as the tie was also yanked free of its hold.

She heard the smallest intake of breath and glared into the mask.

“You could’ve been a bit gentler,” she muttered, “Now there’s no way I’m sleeping with you.”

“I had a chance before?” Killer mused, his fingers suddenly squeezed quite hard on her shoulder as his free hand dropped her wig to the ground, “You’re Black Heart, aren’t you?”

Onyx watched in horror as her beautiful fake hair slowly submerge into a puddle of mud.

_Bastard! That was expensive!_

“No idea what you’re talking about!” she growled, “Can you please get off me now? I’d rather no one find us like this.”

Killer ignored her words, instead he leaned forward until his mask was pressing against her nose. Onyx felt his warm breath on her lips and was acutely aware of the perfect six-pack abs pressed flush against her body. His knee shifted and pushed further between her legs.

“Oh? Would you like us to move somewhere more private?” Killer rumbled.

Onyx jerked her face to the side and let out a huff.

“On second thought, let’s stay here,” she muttered.

The warmth abruptly disappeared.

Onyx blinked in disbelief as the masked man retreated without a fuss.

“Actually, I’ve been looking for you,” Killer leaned back against the opposite wall of the alley, putting a comfortable amount of space between them.

Onyx, still surprised at his voluntary step down, sent him an innocent pout as she collected her bearings.

“Looking for little ol’ me?” she cocked an eyebrow, “Why? I’m not that interesting. Just Mikano the farmer’s daughter.”

Onyx could feel his eyes raking over her body.

“I’m going to have to disagree with you on that one,” he said, lifting a hand to rub his mask, “This changes things…”

“Does it?” Onyx didn’t like the sound of that.

“Well, my months of networking just went out the window,” Killer actually sounded kind of annoyed, “Who knew you would just waltz into the same bar looking for us.”

Onyx’s eyebrows rose again. She contemplated clinging to her obviously unbelieved cover story.

“Were you really looking for me?” she asked.

“Are you really Black Heart Onyx?” Killer returned.

She frowned at him for a few seconds before turning her attention to her surroundings. Thankfully, Killer had jumped her a few steps away from where she had been heading anyway.

She turned and reached for a barrel that was sitting just inside the alley. Pulling the bucket of sludgy brown water away from the wall, a small indentation was revealed.

From this grimy cubbyhole, she pulled out a bag and dug through it for her black trench coat. Once the familiar weight settled over her shoulders she plucked out her contact lenses and wiped the watery tears away.

“That’s better,” she sighed, then she turned to look over the masked man with renewed interest, “Yes. I go by the name Onyx. I don’t recall ever calling myself Black Heart though. If you really do want something from me, I’ll lay out my rules first.”

Killer crossed his arms over his chest. If she’d been able to see his face, Onyx would be sure that he had just breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s fair, I suppose,” he nodded.

Onyx pulled her hat out of her bag and placed it on her head, checking her reflection in the murky water inside the barrel.

“My prices are non-negotiable,” she stated as she rubbed away a smudge in her lipstick, “I deal only in information; no trafficking or delivery services. And I reserve my full right to refuse any request. If I do accept, you will not interfere with my methods or contact me at all during my mission. If you do, the deal is off. I will search you out when I have acquired the information you desire. And I take fifty percent up front.”

Killer remained silent as she spoke and didn’t reply when she was done. Onyx bunched up the now empty bag and stuffed it into a pocket of her trench coat.

“You seem to be a smart man, we could both get something out of this,” Onyx muttered as she fixed her hair and finally abandoned her shitty mirror, “You’ve heard my terms, Massacre Soldier. Do you still wish to request my services?”


	11. Success?

Onyx frowned as she undid the ropes securing the Flying Dodger to the pier, but she didn’t hesitate to throw them aboard and lift her boot onto the rail, balancing over the precarious space between the dock and the ship.

“Promise me you’ll be alright,” she muttered as her eyes swept over the empty deck and secured sail.

The sea breeze whistled through the rigging and a pulley tapped against the mast.

Onyx smirked.

“See you on the other side, baby.”

The waves splashed loudly against the hull and the small boat bucked away from the dock. Onyx pulled her boot back before she lost her balance and grinned after her Dodger.

“A little eager, aren’t we?” she sighed.

She turned and set off down the pier, not looking back as the small vessel drifted further and further out to sea.

Onyx pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes, finding more comfort than utility in the gesture since the sun had long disappeared over the horizon. She had changed out of her jumpsuit and once again bore her favourite black turtleneck and cargo pants.

She blended seamlessly with the shadows and stalked through the town on silent feet. Anyone who caught sight of her thought only that it had been a trick of the light, fooling their eyes and casting strange shadows through the depths of the back-alleys.

Her destination rested in a hidden bay on the uninhabited side of the island. The sheer cliffs that formed the coast of this inlet plunged straight into fathoms-deep water, permitting a ship as large as the one belonging to the Kid Pirates to drop anchor right alongside and forgo the use of rowboats.

Onyx scanned the empty deck of the Victoria Punk from her perch in the branches of an overhanging palm tree.

Other than the two men in the crow’s nest chuckling to each other, the ship was silent. She knew Killer had been honest when he’d told her the crew would be out partying, but she was still surprised at the lack of security. Hopefully the two watchdogs wouldn’t give her any trouble.

Onyx swung down from her tree; her boots hit the deck with muffled thuds and she stumbled a bit.

“Oof, didn’t think I was that high up,” she steadied herself against the rail.

“Right on time.”

Onyx readjusted her hat and smoothed the wrinkles of her coat as she turned around.

“You’re certainly quick to greet visitors,” she smirked as Killer approached along the side deck where she had landed.

He slowed his steps and leaned against the rail beside her. Onyx noted the tense atmosphere and took a step back.

“Is the dear Captain going to join us?” she asked, eyes flitting about in search of the hulking redhead.

“No, he’s still in town,” Killer muttered.

Onyx frowned.

The wind creaked through the rigging, bringing a hushed silence in after it. Her attention returned to the blond and she felt her cheeks warming.

Killer had changed into a pair of jeans and a well-fitting white t-shirt and Onyx’s eyes were constantly being drawn to those perfect half-exposed biceps.

_Fuck!_

“I don’t know why we couldn’t do this earlier,” she snapped, forcing her gaze away, “I could be gone by now. I don’t like delays.”

Killer shifted and crossed his arms over his slim, well-defined chest.

“My apologies,” he bowed his head slightly, “But the chances of us being overheard here are next to none.”

Onyx gave a brief nod of agreement, her eyes digging into the blue and white stripes that hid his face.

“Before we start… What made you take notice of me?” the question leapt from her lips before she could call it back.

“Can’t a man approach a beautiful woman?” Killer returned.

Onyx glared at him.

“A waitress tipped me off,” Killer quickly relented, “She said a dangerous woman was watching our crew. I thought you were a call girl sent to get information on us...”

Onyx nodded slowly, feeling no pain on her body.

Killer cleared his throat.

“So how does this work then?” he asked.

Onyx raised an amused eyebrow and crossed her arms.

“Tell me what information you would like me to find and I will decide whether it’s worth my time.”

Killer paused, his fingers tapping lightly along the rail. Onyx zoned in on the movement, searching for any hint to the man’s thoughts.

“How can I know you won’t hear what I have to say and then go blab our plans to our enemies?” he asked.

Onyx let out a short grunt of laughter.

“You know, it’s usually only the Marines who ask me that,” she cocked her head to the side, “Pirates just assume that I will and they take the risk anyway.”

Killer’s mask stared blankly back at her, unsettling her in a way she did not find amusing.

“Have you heard of me ever doing such a thing? There’s a reason I’m so sought after,” she sighed, “But I’m afraid all I can give you is my word.”

She turned to face him fully and lifted a hand to her heart.

“On my honour.”

Unsurprisingly, the pirate didn’t believe her.

“But if someone wants to know what the Kid Pirates asked of you, you will tell them,” Killer challenged.

Onyx hesitated briefly before nodding.

“If they pay well enough. I have very high fees for traitorous requests.”

Killer’s mask turned to the darkened shore.

“At least you’re honest about it,” he sighed.

Onyx’s eyes flashed and she tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“I pride myself in completing my missions,” she snapped, “Once I’ve accepted a job, it doesn’t concern me who is asking for what.”

“I’m sure you’ve made a lot of enemies thinking like that,” Killer said.

Onyx stiffened and shot him a curious glance, but his head was still turned towards the shore.

“Perhaps,” she said slowly, “But I don’t stay long enough in any one place to find out what others think of me.”

Another gust of wind rattled the rigging and threatened to steal her hat away.

The deck tilted slightly under their feet, but the seasoned sailors remained steady.

“So what is it you want to know?” Onyx muttered, getting annoyed at how long this conversation was dragging on.

Killer was reluctant to speak, which didn’t help her irritation, but Onyx forced herself to be patient. If she played this right, she could get what she came for and be out of here in no time.

“There are many powerful people on the Grand Line,” Killer finally began, “Kid will be the Pirate King, he’s strong enough and he has the will to do so. We’ve beaten every rival we’ve come up against so far.... but I know we’re heading for more dangerous waters. There’s one crew in particular that I’d like to know how to get rid of before they become a real threat.”

A frown began pulling at Onyx’s lips.

“If you’ve been searching for me for any length of time you’ve definitely started creating your own network of contacts,” she said, “Why would you need me for something as simple as this?”

Killer’s fingers tensed against the rail and his head tilted towards her.

“Being at sea as often as we are, it’s difficult to speak with anyone under urgent circumstances. Most information brokers hole up under a wealthy benefactor and live a comfortable life on a well-protected island,” he said, “I was lucky enough to hear your name and that you also travel. I figured it would be easier to keep in touch with you than anyone else.”

Onyx’s frown deepened.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” she muttered.

Killer sighed and pushed off the rail. He turned and leaned back, letting his cascade of blond hair wave in the now steady breeze. Onyx couldn’t help but watch it dance. Little did she know that Killer was similarly eyeing her own dark tresses.

“The person who gave me your name also saw you in the company of the pirate we want,” he said.

Onyx blinked and also leaned back against the rail. She and Killer were now almost shoulder to shoulder, but that went unnoticed for the moment.

Onyx wracked her memory, going through the multiple pirates she had run into recently. Someone had seen her with said pirate, so that eliminated any of the Charlottes. Mihawk wasn’t a pirate, and no one had witnessed their meeting either…

Could the Kid Pirates be interested in the Straw Hats, like everyone else seemed to be? Or maybe Bege? Or-

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at the planks under her feet.

“Who?” she snapped.

Killer shifted his stance, turning to face her and crossing his arms over his chest. The movement took him a step closer and Onyx tensed when her gut gave an unwelcomed flip.

“Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates,” he said.

Onyx’s nails dug into her palms but she kept her expression neutral.

“Hm,” she tilted her head to the side, keeping her eyes on the deck, “I know him. What do you want with him?”

“I’d like him dead, to be honest,” Killer said, “But right now I’d like to know more about his devil fruit. I hear it’s one of the most powerful.”

Onyx remained silent for a few moments, pretending to mull it over.

“I’ll tell you what I want in return,” she said, “If you will pay, I’ll tell you what I know.”

Killer stood in silence for a few long seconds.

“Alright.”

Onyx stifled her smirk and finally tore her eyes from the deck. She turned and lifted her hand, catching a lock of that luscious blond hair between her fingers.

Killer stiffened but did not pull away.

“Instead of money, I want information from you, Killer,” she hummed, leaning in closer, “I want to know everything about that wild captain of yours, I’ve no doubt he has a good devil fruit as well. I also want to know how many are under his command and how strong they are. And I want to know what you were looking into on Stratta. You can choose which to tell me now, as your down-payment.”

From her brief observations of Killer, she guessed he would put his captain and crew’s wellbeing first, especially since she wasn’t giving him the chance to discuss this with Kid.

To keep him from thinking about it too hard she continued her ministrations on his hair, inching her hand closer and closer to his helmet.

The masked man was silent for a long while. He stood so still that if she hadn’t known better, Onyx would have thought he’d nodded off. She was a little disappointed that he wasn’t reacting to her playful hair pulling, but her patience was rewarded when he finally shook his head and let out a short sigh.

“I see why I was warned about you,” he growled.

_Warned about me?_

A large hand suddenly ensnared her waist and she was whirled around and pressed against the wall of the ship. Her mouth opened to protest but a rough finger fell across her lips, brushing lightly across her skin.

“I was telling the truth before. We were looking into weapons Kid could add to his collection,” Killer began in a strained voice, “We happened upon some books mentioning… a certain ancient weapon.”

He paused as if waiting for a reaction. Onyx merely nodded, urging him to continue.

Killer’s finger left her mouth and began tracing along her jawline.

“This weapon is named Juno, and it’s said those who wield it gain strength a thousand times their own power,” he said, “When Kid heard that, he decided it would be our next goal-”

“ _What?!_ ”

Onyx let out a loud groan and abruptly pushed Killer off her. He stepped back without resisting and she turned away, massaging her temples in an effort to soothe the sudden frustration induced headache that threatened to overcome her.

She was going to kill Spandam!

“You know of this weapon?” Killer grunted in her ear.

_I can’t believe this whole operation was a waste of time!_

Her mind worked a mile a minute as she tried to digest this information.

_Ah…_

Her eyes narrowed and she suppressed a smirk.

 _That’s perfect actually_.

Now she could get out of here without compromising Law. She just had to play this right…

Onyx let out a long sigh before turning to glare at the masked man. He hadn’t backed off and her nose was now inches from his mask.

“A word of advice,” she snapped, “Give up. That weapon, Juno… it doesn’t exist.”

“Eh?”

“It’s a fake. A plant by the world government to lure in traitors. If you follow any clues to its location, you’ll find a marine ambush waiting for you.”

Killer took a step back and crossed his arms.

“How do I know you aren’t lying?” he asked.

Onyx rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“You don’t,” she snapped.

The World Government wasn’t completely inept when it came to discouraging research into banned subjects. They’d developed their own network of ‘clues’ and ‘weapons’ to lure in unsuspecting rebels.

The Marines knew where these fake clues were hidden, of course. Onyx was aware of the locations of a few, but she had been ignorant to this specific one.

But there was no doubt Spandam knew _exactly_ what kind of information was hidden in the Stratta Library.

Why the hell had he sent her off on a wild goose chase?!

She really was going to kill that purple-haired swamp rat.

Killer kept watching her, not moving out of his doubtful stance. Onyx brought a hand up to massage her forehead.

“Look, I don’t care if you believe me,” she growled.

This reveal had soured her mood, but now that she’d gotten what she’d needed she could leave this annoyingly attractive blond.

Onyx grabbed the rail and hoisted one leg up over it.

“I don’t know why I even told you. Go find it for all I care. That’ll be one less pirate crew on the sea-!”

And then her back was once again pressed against the pirate ship.

Large hands grasped her waist and a deliciously toned chest was suddenly flush with hers, pinning her just like back in the alley. Onyx’s eyes widened as the blue and white stripped mask bent over her. Warm breath fanned her lips, bringing a flush to her cheeks.

“You said you don’t usually resort to violence,” she panted, “I’m finding that hard to believe.”

One of Killer’s hands came up to cup her chin, playing his finger along her bottom lip.

But Onyx’s attention was sidetracked by the hand that remained on her waist. His thumb was tracing circles over her shirt, slowly pulling at the fabric. An icy chill jolted through her as the barest amount of skin was exposed to the cool night breeze.

_SHIT!_

“You seem to bring out my animalistic side,” Killer murmured in her ear, “Now I’ve made my down-payment. I expect you to honour our agreement.”

_Time to end this._

Onyx’s left hand lunged up and grabbed Killer’s bare wrist. She gave her hips a sultry shake, grinding against both Killer and the wall behind her.

The motion managed to pull her shirt back down to where it should be and had the added bonus of distracting the man. She smirked at the faint but eager intake of breath from behind the mask.

 _You got too close there._ She ran her fingertips along his skin, noting the goosebumps that lifted in the wake of her touches. _Poor Killer, I was never going to accept your offer from the moment Law’s name left your lips._

“Oh?” Onyx pouted, feeling the familiar tingling warmth pass through her fingers, “But I _have_ honoured our agreement. I already told you what you wanted. That weapon you read about is a fake. There is no Juno. That’s what you wanted from me.”

The blond paused, his fingers working against her waist as the effect took hold.

Onyx stared at the mask, peering through the small holes in an attempt to find the eyes she knew were clouding with doubt and second thoughts.

“Right…” Killer’s head tilted to the side as the effect of her devil fruit blossomed, “Sorry, my mistake.”

He released her and stepped back, shaking his head slightly as if to clear it. Onyx stifled her triumphant smirk.

“Oi, Killer! Where are you?”

The irritated shout only preceded the captain of the Kid Pirates by a second; not enough time for either Onyx or Killer to terminate their meeting.

Eustass Kid appeared around the wall from the main deck and jerked to a halt when his gaze fell on the pair.

“What the fuck is this?” Kid spat, his reptilian eyes narrowing to slits.

_That’s my cue._

Onyx turned around and flashed the red beast a coy smirk.

“Why hello, Eustass ‘Captain’ Kid,” she purred, “Your wanted poster certainly doesn’t do you justice.”

A spark of familiarity flashed through his amber eyes as a fresh sea breeze ruffled his hair.

The wind carried a small, almost inaudible voice to her ears.

Onyx smiled.

She was quite surprised at how fast Kid was on the uptake. And even more surprised at the light that burst to life in those eyes as he looked her over.

“Damn,” he spat out the word half as a curse and half as a compliment.

Onyx’s attention dropped briefly to his lips and she wondered what kind of lipstick he used; that was a great colour. Then she felt Killer shift behind her.

“Well, I’ve gotten what I came for,” Onyx narrowly dodged his restraining hand and tossed her hair over her shoulder, “Bye bye, boys.”

With a wave and a smirk, she took a running leap over the railing and plummeted towards the water below.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Both men were taken completely by surprise when the mysterious woman jumped overboard, and so they didn’t immediately move to see her plunge into the dark waves lapping at the ship’s hull.

But when no telltale splash was heard, Killer lunged for the rail and peered over.

There was no trace of the woman. She had vanished into thin air... or drowned. But he couldn’t quite make himself believe that.

Kid joined his partner and searched the inky water for a moment, his thin eyebrow lifting at the lonely waves.

“Who was she?” he asked, stepping back from the rail, “Usually girls are falling all over you, not jumping off boats to get away.”

“Fuck!” Killer slammed his fist against the rail in a rare display of frustration, “That was Black Heart!”

Kid’s smirk fell and was replaced with an unamused frown.

“That information broker you wanted to find?” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Killer sighed, his gaze travelling over the empty water below one more time before he abandoned the rail.

His shoulders rose and fell, and then he let out a bitter grunt.

“She played me like a fiddle. I don’t know how the hell she managed to…” he absentmindedly massaged his wrist.

Kid snorted.

“It isn’t often you let a woman escape,” he sneered, “And by the look of her she’d have been a great fuck.”

A muffled groaned issued from behind the mask and Kid’s eyes widened before laughter rumbled through his chest.

“Wahahahahaha! Sucks to be you tonight!” he beat on Killer’s shoulder.

The blond simply stood there and took it.

After a few minutes Kid had regained his breath and the pair made their way out onto the main deck.

“I was thinking we’ll stick around for one more day before setting off for Juno,” Kid said, “I want to have a bit more fun here.”

“Uh… about that…” Killer let out a sigh.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Onyx held her breath as she plunged toward the sea.

The cliff face was dangerously close; had she put a little more force into her leap she would have scraped against it all the way down.

Somehow her luck held and her body fell between the pirate ship’s hull and the sheer rock without touching either.

The dark waves surged greedily up to devour her, but instead of splashing into them her boots thumped against solid wood.

A relieved sigh escaped Onyx as she staggered over to the rail and gave it a grateful pat.

“Thanks for catching me, baby. You always get here just in time,” she quickly moved across the Flying Dodger and hoisted the sail, “That somehow worked out nicely. Now let’s get out of here before they decide what to do about me.”

She yanked the rudder around and the tiny vessel squeezed out from behind the large pirate ship and sailed off into the night.


	12. Sensei!

By noon the next day Onyx was long out of reach of the Kid Pirates.

She suspected that she wouldn’t be pursued, but just to be safe she had skipped over the next island and kept on sailing through the night. The weather, though not a full-fledged storm, had been rough and Onyx had spent the night keeping a death grip on both the rudder and the rope controlling the sail.

Now that the sky was clear and the sun shone down, she was dead tired.

Opting to let the Dodger drift onward on his own instead of dropping anchor, Onyx retreated to the cabin.

“What was the point?!” she sighed as she fell backwards onto her bed, not even bothering to remove her hat.

Her stomach let out a hungry growl but she ignored it, instead favouring to wallow in her anger and frustration at Spandam.

“What would he gain by sending me on a pointless mission?” she muttered, glaring at the ceiling, “If he didn’t want me around he didn’t have to send for me…”

It didn’t make sense.

Onyx rolled over and buried her face in her pillow, determined to force herself to sleep and forget about everything for a while.

At least she could collect another hundred million beris…

…She should stop by one of her drops soon, she needed to stash the money from Big Mom and Spandam. It was never a good idea to be sailing with such large amounts of beris…

She lay there, slowly drifting off, until-

“Ahoy!”

Onyx stiffened and lifted her head.

The low rustle of the relatively calm waves were all that broke the silence. She must have been dreaming.

When the call didn’t repeat itself she dropped her head back down and resumed her fuming.

Actually... that probably wasn’t Spandam’s plan. He had seemed a little too casual with the details… maybe he had been under orders from higher up.

And Rena… that was too much of a coincidence.

Could the whole thing have been a government set up? Onyx knew those old geezers up in Mary Geois wanted her wiped from the earth. And they were far from the only ones…

_No, don’t think about it now. Just go to sleep!_

Onyx squinted her eyes closed so hard that she saw spots swimming behind her eyelids.

“Ahoooooy!”

Her glare almost burned a hole through the door. There was no mistaking it this time.

Why the hell was there someone shouting at her in the middle of the sea?!

“Hello? Anybody there?”

It didn’t sound like they were going away.

With a loud groan, Onyx got up and threw open the door, making sure to stomp extra loudly as she emerged on deck.

“ _WHAT?!_ ” she shouted at the bright blue sky.

“Gyahahahahahahaha! I knew I recognized this unflashy excuse for a boat!”

Onyx blinked at the large, extremely colourful, ship floating just off her starboard bow.

A figure stood proudly at the rail, covering her with his larger-than-life shadow. She fought the smile that wanted to emerge as she took in the orange hat and cloak, the blue hair… and that round, red nose.

“Sensei!” she waved up at the leering pirate clown.

The smug grin on Buggy’s face immediately turned to a frown.

“Oi!” he snapped, detaching one of his white-gloved hands and sending it to bop her on the head, “What did I say about calling me that?”

Onyx rolled her eyes and batted his fingers away.

“And what did _I_ say about keeping my word?” she smirked, “Have you found Straw Hat yet?”

Buggy’s eyes widened in shock before his frown returned to a comical degree and the hand floating around her face clenched into a fist.

“No!” he exclaimed in a flash of anger, “He disappeared!”

“Oh?” Onyx cocked an eyebrow, “He wasn’t on Jaya?”

The clown shook his head so vigorously that his orange hat popped off, revealing the braided pigtails he posed as tassels.

“Your flashy information was shit!” he snapped, poking her cheek with his still disembodied hand, “I want my money back!”

Onyx’s eyes narrowed and her lips twisted into a snarl.

“Watch your mouth!” she growled, snatching his hand from the air and throwing it back at him, “I told you exactly where he’d be! It’s your own fault that you couldn’t find him!”

Buggy flinched and cowered under her burning glare. His hand flew back at his face, stopping just short of hitting him in the nose before he remembered he could control it and returned it to his forearm.

“And I gave you that information free of charge,” Onyx grumbled, crossing her arms, “I don’t owe you anything.”

Buggy picked up his hat and settled it back onto his head.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said, his mood suddenly lifting.

Onyx slapped a hand to her forehead and sighed.

“Where exactly did you look for Straw Hat?” she asked.

“Pffaa!” Buggy scoffed, smirking down at her, “That bastard can wait. Come aboard, Onyx! We were having a flashy party before you interrupted us.”

“Actually, _you_ interrupted the party,” a woman suddenly appeared beside the clown, “You just ran off when you saw this little dinghy.”

Onyx blinked at the black haired beauty.

“What the hell are you doing here, Alvida?” Buggy snapped.

“I was curious to see who you’re so familiar with,” the woman looked to Onyx with interest, “Who’s she?”

Buggy struck a flamboyant pose and thrust his arms towards the Flying Dodger.

“Hey! Show some respect! This is Black Heart Onyx! The flashy spy who can find out anything! Those who inconvenience her are always found with a bullet in their head and their hearts flashily carved out!”

Onyx groaned and pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes.

“Shut up, Buggy-sensei,” she muttered, “You know none of that is true.”

“Sensei?” the woman named Alvida turned her curious stare to the clown.

“Uuuuh,” Buggy’s cheeks flushed a bright red and he quickly turned away, “Hey guys! Onyx has come to party!”

Before Onyx could retort, he was gone.

She let out a defeated sigh.

_This damn clown…_

“Well… I guess I have…”

Another figure approached the rail and Onyx threw a tow rope over to him. She waited until he pulled it taught before she hopped up and tightrope-walked across.

“I see you remember what I taught you,” the dark haired man smiled a greeting over his striped scarf, “How’ve you been, Onyx?”

“Well enough under the circumstances, Cabaji,” she leapt onto the deck and straightened her hat.

“That’s good to hear,” the acrobat said as he stepped back, knowing she preferred to tie her own knots when it came to her ship.

Onyx gave him a grateful nod and bent down to secure the Dodger.

“So what’s this about not finding Straw Hat?” she asked, standing up and looking out over the ship.

Buggy’s crew were scattered all over the large deck, sitting among piles of food and empty dishes. A large blue couch was set up along the opposite rail and Alvida now occupied it, along with a few clearly smitten men. A large lion and his ‘tamer’ were nearby, fighting over a large leg of meat; Onyx decided not to interrupt their meal just yet.

“We did search for him on Jaya,” Cabaji said, leading the way down to a throne that sat near the figurehead, “But he’d already been and gone. He left quite the mess behind too. After that we couldn’t pick up his trail. It’s like he vanished into thin air.”

Onyx paused, a thoughtful expression coming over her face.

“Into thin air…?” she mused, staring up at the sky, “Around Jaya...?”

Cabaji eyed her curiously as they skirted the deck and approached the figure head.

“Something on your mind?” he asked as they reached the throne.

Onyx blinked and shook her head.

“Nothing,” she said, taking in the side of the sculpted elephant head that stretched out over the sea.

“We’ve made some flashy improvements since you were here last,” Buggy came up from the main deck and settled himself on the throne.

“I would hope so,” Onyx smirked, “That was almost ten years ago.”

“Eh?!” Buggy exclaimed, “That long?!”

Onyx nodded and swept her gaze around the ship. Now that she took a good look, there were a lot of changes to the Big Top. An entirely new observation deck had been constructed overlooking the bow and there were definitely more masts than she remembered. The stripes of a circus tent were everywhere and there were a lot of acrobats’ equipment hung up among the rigging and sails. The whole thing gave off the impression that she was back stage at a circus.

“I like it,” she stated.

Buggy visibly swelled with pride and Cabaji’s smirk grew.

“The trunk is a cannon now,” the Chief of Staff motioned back to the figurehead, “And we’ve got two more down there as our main frontal assault weapons. With those and how large our crew has grown, we’re a pretty intimidating force.”

Onyx nodded and walked over to perch on the arm of Buggy’s throne.

“You’ve done wonderfully for yourselves,” she said as the clown scooted his arm out of her way, “I see the pirate business has been good.”

Then she turned her gaze to Buggy and scrutinized his face.

“What’s with the green?” she motioned to his eyes and lips.

Buggy blinked at her before his grin widened.

“I decided it was time for a change! What do you think? Flashy isn’t it?” he struck a strongman pose that did absolutely nothing to show off his new makeup.

“It’s totally ridiculous,” Onyx scoffed, “You should at least pick a colour that looks good on you. Like blue or… maybe yellow.”

Buggy’s eyes bulged and his cheeks flushed a deep red.

“Hey! Don’t come onto my ship and then flashily insult me!” he snapped, “I won’t stand for it!”

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and leaned back against the throne.

“I was just being honest, Sensei,” she smirked, “I prefer you without all that green.”

The clown spluttered for a few seconds before he settled into a brooding silence. Onyx frowned and leaned in but he averted his gaze.

“Sensei?” she asked, “Did that bother you? Sorry.”

He stiffened, his eyes flicking back to her and revealing his surprise.

“It didn’t bother me,” he muttered, his frown returning.

Onyx sat back, still a little confused at his sudden downturn in mood. But she was distracted when a large feline came bounding over the deck.

“Richie!” Onyx exclaimed as a huge head was thrust into her lap, “You’ve grown so much!”

She ran a hand through his purple mane and smirked when the lion began to purr.

“Well you last saw him as a kitten,” a man with white haired styled just like his pet lion’s mane strode up, “I’m surprised he remembers who you are.”

The lion gave a snort and nuzzled his head further into Onyx’s lap.

“Of course he’d remember me,” she hummed, scratching behind his ears, “I was the only one who let him sleep in my coat, all cozy and warm. You said he should sleep out in the rain, Mohji. Such a cruel bastard.”

Richie growled his agreement and slapped his ‘tamer’ with his tail.

“No, he just likes women,” Mohji spat out a few hairs and gave the beast a retaliatory smack, “He’s like this with Alvida too.”

Onyx lifted an eyebrow and looked over to the couch still populated with the crowd of love-struck pirates fawning over the woman blatantly enjoying the attention.

“I was curious about her,” she hummed, “Who is she?”

Buggy followed her gaze and shrugged.

“Iron Mace Alvida. She joined up just before we entered the Grand Line.”

“She kept the crew together when Straw Hat sent Captain Buggy flying and we lost him for a while,” Cabaji put in, “And technically this is the Buggy and Alvida Alliance. She and Buggy are co-captains.”

“She ate the Slip-Slip Fruit,” Mohji spoke up eagerly, “Anything that touches her skin just slides off.”

Onyx let out an interested hum and looked over the three men and one lion gathered around her. All had their attention fixed on her and had that calm, warm air of those welcoming in an old friend.

Her features softened and she let out a low breath through her gently smiling lips, but then she shook her head and pushed off the throne. She quickly averted her eyes from the three now shocked faces staring back at her.

“Well I think I’ll introduce myself,” she sent a quick glare at Buggy, “ _Properly_.”

The clown gave a grumpy huff and crossed his arms.

“Whatever,” he grunted, “But I’m not letting you derail my flashy party. Guys! Let’s drink!”

A cheer rippled through the crew and mugs were raised and clacked together.

Onyx made her way across the deck to hover over the couch. Her shadow fell over Alvida and her crowd of eager suitors. The men looked up and were greeted with Onyx’s best icy glare. A shiver ran through them and, without a word, they got up and dispersed throughout the ship.

Alvida watched them go with a confused frown, then she tilted her head back to see what the cause of the interruption was.

Onyx shifted her glare into a friendly smile.

“I hear you actually got Buggy-sensei to be a _co_ -captain,” she stepped around the couch and sat down, “That man’s pride is second to none. I already like you.”

A one sided smirk tugged at Alvida’s lips.

“And you are the only person I’ve met that that idiot clown holds in such high regards,” she tipped the brim of her light pink cowboy hat, “I am definitely curious about you.”

Onyx smirked and held out her hand.

“Onyx,” she introduced herself, “Ignore everything Buggy-sensei said. He’s just repeating false rumours.”

“Alvida,” the woman returned her handshake, “And I have a feeling he believed what he said.”

Onyx let out a sigh as she leaned back into the couch.

“Well, he _is_ an idiot,” she said.

There was a pause and then both women let out soft chuckles.

“So how do you know Buggy?” Alvida reached around the couch and pulled up two bottles of sake, offering one to Onyx, “The level of familiarity between you two, and Cabaji and Mohji as well, is… intriguing.”

Onyx took the alcohol and quickly tossed back a mouthful.

“Ah!” she smacked her lips, “Nice stuff.”

To delay answering, she turned to look back to the throne.

Buggy and Cabaji were still there, laughing and drinking with some other crew members Onyx didn’t recognize. Richie and Mohji had disappeared, probably raiding the kitchens.

The words rose up and Onyx told herself it was the alcohol that loosened her lips.

“I first met Buggy-sensei… eight? No… nine years ago,” she said, “I was in a rough spot and he took me in and taught me how to live on the sea.”

Alvida paused before sipping on her own bottle.

“He must have made quite the impression,” she hummed, “It’s so strange to hear anyone called him by such an honorific.”

Onyx smirked.

“Oh, he was completely useless,” she said, stretching her arm out along the back of the couch, “Even though _he_ was the pirate, _I_ was the one who saved his ass whenever he got in over his head.”

Alvida chuckled and glanced over to the clown captain, who was currently juggling nine bottles at once, spurred on by the thunderous applause of his crew.

Onyx followed her gaze and felt her own expression softening.

“But he offered a great distraction, and the most fun I’d had in years. I made a deal with him that if he could do _one_ mission without my help, then I would stick around for a while. He added the caveat that I had to call him Sensei if he succeeded. I almost jumped overboard when he came back alive.”

Alvida’s chuckle spilled into full blown laughter, drawing all attention to the two women.

“I don’t know if I like you two getting along so well,” Buggy’s detached upper body floated towards them while his legs kept doing a strange dance by his throne, “What are you talking about?”

Onyx smirked and threw back another long pull of sake.

“Just telling her about our history, _Sensei_ ,” she hummed.

Buggy’s cheeks flushed and he refused to meet her gaze, instead turning his glare on Alvida.

“Don’t listen to anything she says!” he shouted, “She always makes stuff up!”

Onyx’s smirk immediately flipped to a frown and she sprang to her feet, grabbing the clown’s scarf and yanking him up to her eye level.

“Hey hey, Sensei,” she growled, enjoying the sheen of sweat that immediately coated his makeup-covered face, “What did you just say?”

Buggy gulped and began waving his hands back and forth between them.

“Nothing! Nothing, Onyx-chan!” he stammered, closing his eyes and bowing his head again and again, “I would never doubt anything you ever said!”

He peeked up at her, anxiously waiting to see if she would snap.

But Onyx nodded her head and released the clown, who immediately floated to a safe distance.

“Damn right,” Onyx snapped, “You know I hate when you tell lies. If you do that again, I’m leaving.”

“Eh? You can’t leave after only one drink,” Buggy’s smirk returned now that he knew he was safe, “Come on, I’ve got your favourite!”

Onyx cocked an eyebrow but couldn’t hide the eager light that sparked in her eyes.

“You still have some?” she hummed.

Buggy’s legs walked over to reattach themselves to his body at the same time as he shot his hand across the deck and into the ship.

“Of course,” the clown’s green lips lifted in a smug grin, “I don’t think the stores have been touched since you left. No one else can handle the stuff.”

“Oh?” Alvida crossed her legs and took a sip of sake, “Are you a hard drinker?”

A sneaky smirk lifted Onyx’s lips and a matching glint burst to life in Buggy’s eyes. Both of them turned to the woman sitting on the couch.

Alvida’s smile fell and she shifted nervously.

“What are those looks for?” she muttered.

A whizzing sound preceded Buggy’s hand returning, a dark bottle clenched in his fist.

“Alright men!” the clown shouted and waved the bottle around, “Who thinks they can hold their liquor?”

“Aaaaaaaaaand its Onyx for the win! Again!”

“Awww that wasn’t even a challenge!” Onyx pouted as she thumped her tankard down on the table.

The cabin boy slid drunkenly off his seat and collapsed onto the deck.

“She…shhhhe’s a monsshhter…” he slurred as another man hauled him to his feet.

“Go back home to mama,” Onyx scoffed and threw back the rest of her screech.

A satisfied gasp left her throat as she wiped the froth off her lips.

“Anyone else?”

The crowd of eager challengers that had gathered upon the announcement of Onyx’s drinking contest had swiftly become a mess of sprawled and groaning bodies.

When no one spoke up Onyx pouted and stood, moving off in search of a refill.

The sun had long since reached the top of the sky and was now only an hour away from hugging the horizon. Onyx paused and looked out over the sea, enjoying a cool breeze as it lifted her hair.

“I can’t believe it’s been almost ten years since I’ve seen your face.”

She glanced to her side, finding Buggy sitting a ways down on the rail.

He had forgone his hat and cloak, letting his hair fall in a loose ponytail down the back of his red and white striped shirt.

Onyx didn’t reply and after a few seconds she turned her gaze back to the water. A chorus of cheers rang out from the party still happening behind them.

“You could’ve said goodbye, you know,” Buggy grumbled, taking a swig from the bottle clenched in his hand.

Onyx let out a sigh and moved over to lean on the rail beside him.

“Where’d this come from all of a sudden?” she mumbled, “We’ve spoken multiple times over the years. It isn’t like I cut you out completely.”

“Hmph,” Buggy grunted and took another swig.

The pair sat in silence for a while.

“What happened, Onyx?”

She narrowed her eyes at the water below, letting the icy silence draw out as she mulled over her words. It wouldn’t be fair to completely brush him off, especially after he’d offered her favourite booze.

“You know me, Sensei,” she let out a sigh, “I hate lying, cheating, dishonest people. And you attract those scum like moths to a flame. If I had stayed any longer I would have killed all of you.”

“Yeah, that’s how you used to be.”

Buggy’s words made her pause and she shot a suspicious glance at the clown.

His gaze was directed at the waves and Onyx watched the water’s reflections playing over his red nose.

“In all that time you spent with us…,” he continued, “I never once saw you smile.”

“Hm,” Onyx’s mouth twisted into a grimace, “What’s with this talk? You’re killing the mood.”

Buggy scoffed and shot her a sneer.

“There’s the old Onyx,” he snickered, but then the same air of contemplation fell over his shoulders, “You look pretty flashy when you smile.”

Onyx’s eyes widened and she quickly turned away before the clown could see the flush on her cheeks (or so she thought).

“Damn it, Sensei!” she snapped, “I’m ditching you and your weird mood. Where’s Alvida?”

She stomped away without a backward glance.

 _The damn clown can get all mushy all by himself_ , she grumbled.

She found Alvida among another group of her fanboys, gathered around a large table that had been set up in the centre of the deck. Everyone had their mugs raised and waving through the air as the crew belted out a popular song.

_“~Yo ho Yo ho_

_A pirate’s life for me!~”_

Onyx sat down at the table and pulled a random mug towards her.

“Hey!” Cabaji snapped, “That’s mine!”

Onyx fixed the acrobat with a fierce glare, maintaining eye contact as she lifted the mug to her lips and chugged the whole thing before slamming it back down.

“Oh, sorry about that,” she scoffed, “Here you go.”

She slid the empty mug back to the scowling man and narrowly dodged his retaliatory knife.

“Hey now, relax,” Onyx rested her chin on her palm, “Sorry. Buggy-sensei got me in a bad mood.”

She reached over and stole another man’s beer, handing it over to Cabaji. The acrobat rolled his eyes as he took the tankard, then his gaze shifted to the far rail.

Onyx refused to turn around; she knew Buggy was still sitting there.

“What’s up with Captain Buggy?” Cabaji asked.

“Hm?” Moji leaned across the table and snatched a large hunk of meat from a nearby platter, “He’s probably just relaxing after everything that’s happened.”

Onyx tilted her head towards the beast tamer.

“Everything that’s happened?” she asked.

Alvida turned away from her adoring fans and gave Onyx a nod.

“It’s definitely been a busy week for the Big Top,” she said, now sipping on some wine, “You’re our second visitor.”

Onyx cocked a curious eyebrow and after a pause the woman continued.

“The second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace, was here the other day,” she explained, “He just popped out of nowhere and joined our party. Buggy refused to let us attack him, so he ate his fill and left. Said he was searching for a man named Blackbeard.”

Onyx sat up straighter and frowned.

 _Blackbeard? Is that why Ace was in Alabasta_?

Her frown deepened as her gut gave a twist.

“Fire Fist Ace?” she hummed, leaning back and crossing her legs, “That must have been a surprise. Buggy-sensei made the right call though, you wouldn’t want Whitebeard breathing down your necks.”

“That’s what Captain Buggy said!” Mohji shouted, drunkenly waving his mug through the air, “He’s a genius who even faced off against the great Whitebeard!”

“Woooo!” a loud chorus of cheers erupted from the crew, followed by the chanting of ‘Buggy, Buggy, Buggy…’

Onyx turned to see the clown waving his arm in acknowledgment, but his back remained to the party.

The frown remained on her lips as she stood.

“I’ve gotta make a call,” she turned to Cabaji, “Can I use your transponder snail?”

The acrobat lifted an eyebrow but nodded and got up from the table. Onyx followed him into the ship, tracing the familiar route to the small closet tucked between the decently large bathroom and the door to the lower storage hold.

The sounds of the party faded a little once below decks, but the laughter and cheering could still be heard through the wood paneling.

“Why the sudden urgency?” Cabaji pulled the closet door open to reveal a small communications station.

Onyx eyed the obnoxiously blue and orange snail sitting on top of a pile of logbooks and a box stuffed with eternal-poses.

“Don’t rightly know,” she grunted as she pulled the snail off the shelf, “Just a gut feeling. I need to check something.”

Cabaji gave her a thoughtful stare before shrugging.

“Just don’t run off when you’re done,” he waved as he returned to the party, “Richie would probably cry if you didn’t say goodbye again.”

Onyx scoffed as she lifted the receiver.

“That damn kitty would cry if you took away his food bowl,” she muttered.

Onyx waited until she heard Cabaji’s footsteps retreating up the stairs before she dialed and waited.

“ _Purupurupurupurupuru… Purupurupurupurupurupuru….”_

Onyx tapped her foot on the planks, waiting impatiently for an answer.

“ _Purupurupurupurupuru… Purupurupurupurupurupuru….”_

“Come on,” she sighed, glaring at the snail.

_“Purupurupurupurupuru… Purupurupurupurupurupuru… Purupurupurupuru-Kacha-“_

“Hello?”

Onyx’s mouth was already open and ready to respond, but it snapped shut upon hearing that voice. Her eyes widened and she tried to stop the heat that immediately began moving over her cheeks.

 _He_ was not who she expected to hear on the other end of this private line.

Though she shouldn’t be surprised…

“…Hello?” the man asked again.

Some other voices could be heard in the background. It sounded like the Buggy-Alvida Alliance wasn’t the only crew partying today.

Onyx shook her head and took a steadying breath.

 _Come on_ , she chided herself, _I really need to get over this._

“Hello, Beckman,” she spoke evenly into the receiver, watching the snails eyes widen in imitated surprise, “Is your lovely captain around?”

There was a pause and the snail’s jaw dropped slightly.

“Onyx?”

“The one and only,” she smirked.

Another pause.

Onyx’s eyes widened as the snail gave her a soft smile.

_Oh god, don’t blush, don’t blush, don’t blush!_

“I’ll get him, please wait a moment…”

The sound of muffled footsteps came down the line, and then-

“Oi, Captain!”

“Ye- _hic_ -yeah?”

“Someone’s calling for you.”

“ _Hic_ \- eh? Who? Tell them to call back later!”

There was a pause in which the background chant of ‘Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!’ could be heard.

“EHH?!” Shanks’ shout managed to startle Onyx and she gave the snail a questioning look.

A few stomps and scrambling sounds preceded a shift in the snail’s expression.

“Helloooo~”

 _Oh god, he’s shit-faced_ , Onyx let out an annoyed sigh.

“Hey there, Shanks,” she frowned at the transponder snail’s flushed cheeks and drunken smile, “You got a minute?”

“I’ve always got a minute for my dear Onyx-chan,” Shanks drawled, “But won’t that not be as fun for you? I can last much longer, you know.”

Onyx rolled her eyes.

“Shut it, you perv,” she snapped, “This is a business call.”

“Oh?~” there was still a slur to his words, but at least he was trying, “What’s so important that you call me in the middle of a party for?”

“What are your thoughts on Marshall D. Teach?” Onyx cut right to the chase.

The line went quiet. The transponder snail’s expression slowly became serious.

“Teach?” Shanks muttered.

Onyx waited, letting the man gather his thoughts.

Some tapping came over the line, then there was a _*click*_ and the background noises were silenced. It hadn’t sounded as if Shanks had moved… was Beckman listening in?

 _Well, that’s alright I suppose_.

“He’s a dangerous man,” Shanks eventually spoke.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow and tapped her finger against the receiver. To hear that directly from an Emperor…

“Do you think he should be reigned back in?” she asked.

The snail frowned and she heard the soft rustle of cloth on cloth.

“I don’t think he should be left to do what he likes,” Shanks admitted.

Onyx nodded her head.

“Perhaps you should know that Fire Fist Ace is trying to track him down,” she said.

The snail’s eyes widened but Shanks didn’t offer a response.

“Do you think Ace is strong enough to bring in Teach?” she asked quietly.

The silence on the other end continued.

Onyx nodded in confirmation.

 _Me neither_.

“…why ask me?” Shanks’ voice had become considerably more sober.

Onyx leaned her shoulder against the closet doorframe. Her eyes scanned over the box of eternal poses and she began rifling through them.

“Let’s just say it would be bad if word got out that I’m poking my nose in this,” she muttered, “I know you and Benn won’t go blabbing.”

There was a pause in which she could just make out a distant huff of breath.

“Why didn’t you call Whitebeard directly?” Shanks’ voice was loud in comparison.

“You know how that old geezer takes advice, especially from women,” Onyx snapped.

“I do… but why come to me?” Shanks was being strangely cautious today.

Onyx let out a low sigh.

She picked out one eternal pose and tucked it safely into her pocket. She would be long gone before Buggy noticed it was missing.

“You know the most about Teach outside of the Whitebeard Pirates,” she said, “I wanted to confirm his threat level. And you aren’t a man who’ll sit on his ass if something should be done.”

The snail cocked its eyebrow at her.

“Are you suggesting I speak to Whitebeard?” his tone was a mix of amusement and warning.

Onyx knew she was treading on thin ice. She may have some influence, but she was nowhere near powerful enough to be ordering an Emperor around.

“I’m not suggesting anything,” she said, “I merely wanted to confirm my own suspicions.”

“Onyx…”

She let out a sigh.

“I have a bad feeling about this, Shanks,” she admitted, “Something in my gut… I don’t know what it is, but it isn’t good.”

“You know her gut is always right,” Beckman’s voice spoke up.

Onyx smirked.

Shanks let out a sigh.

“You killed my buzz,” he grunted.

Onyx brought the receiver closer to her lips as a wave of laughter filtered down through the ceiling above her.

“Sorry, Shanks. I just thought you should know,” she said.

Then, perhaps because of the screech warming her stomach, she opened her mouth again.

“… Hey, I ran into Mihawk a while ago. He said you two met up. How did that go? I’m assuming you didn’t fight because that would be all over the news…”

“Eh? Hawkeyes?” Shanks grunted as the snail’s eyes widened, “Yeah, he brought me news of Luffy’s first bounty!”

The snail’s mouth flipped to a wide smile and Onyx cocked an eyebrow. Why was everyone so interested in this rookie?

“Monkey D. Luffy?” she muttered, then her eyes widened as a memory surged up to the forefront of her mind. A straw hat wearing boy standing in a desert island port town…, “You gave him your hat?! I knew it looked familiar!”

“Dahahahaha!” the snail guffawed loudly, “So you’ve met the kid? What did you think of him? Tell me.”

Onyx stared at the snail.

“Uh…” she was unprepared for such an eager question, “Well… he’s definitely interesting. I wouldn’t mind speaking with him again.”

“Ha!” the sound of clapping hands came over the line, “If Black Heart likes him then he’s heading in the right direction.”

Onyx frowned and tapped the snail lightly in the head, wishing the blow could be transferred across the ocean as easily as her voice.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she snapped.

“Dahahaha,” Shanks continued to chuckle, “Oh, don’t be angry with me, Onyx-chan. You have the best intuition I’ve ever seen. It saved my ass on our first meeting, remember?”

Onyx scowled.

“I’ve tried to erase those events from my memory,” she said curtly.

Shanks’ laughter petered out, but the snail still wore a goofy smile.

“What?” his tone was teasing, “Aww, you’ve hurt Beck’s feelings. It’s okay Becky, she didn’t mean it.”

The sudden reminder that Beckman was still listening brought an unwanted and uncontrolled flush to her cheeks.

“It’s alright, Onyx,” the quieter man’s voice came over the line and the snail’s expression shifted to a relaxed half-smile, “If such a situation arises again, I’ll still be willing to help you out.”

“Such a situation will certainly NOT arise again!” she snapped, still blushing furiously, “It’s not like I wanted to cling to you like a stupid monkey! I would’ve disappeared from existence if that damned sun had touched me!”

“Dahaha, he hasn’t taken that cloak off since then,” Shanks’ voice returned a little more slurred than before, “Ouch!”

The sound of a hit came over the line.

“Thank you, Beckman,” Onyx smirked, “Can you give him one from me as well?”

“Gladly.”

Another _smack_.

“Ouch! Sheesh. Well at least you two love birds are getting along fine.”

“Shanks!” Onyx finally got a hold of her emotions and felt her face cooling, “That’s quite enough of that.”

She took a breath.

“Alright, I should be going… thanks for speaking with me.”

“Anytime, Onyx-chan,” he said, “… Where are you? You can come join our party if you’re nearby.”

Onyx shook her head, but the motion caused her to wobble a bit as the ship gave a sudden roll.

“Afraid not. I’m in Paradise right now,” she turned to the side and leaned back against the doorframe.

Her eyes traced over the stupid orange hat and blue pigtails that decorated the transponder snail.

“…Visiting some friends.”

“ _Friends?_ ” the snail gave her a disbelieving stare as two voices asked the same question.

Onyx’s jaw dropped and she cursed her slip up. She must be drunker than she thought.

“A-acquaintances!” she corrected in vain, “Shut up!” she snapped as a chuckle came over the line.

“Whatever you say,” Shanks’ tone relaxed, “So who are these acquaintances?”

Onyx shook her head again.

“None of your-“

BAM!

“Onyx! Where are you?! You better not have flashily disappeared again!”

“Shit!” Onyx whirled around to see a very inebriated clown stumbling down the stairs.

As she watched, he missed a step and tumbled head over ridiculously curled brown boots. He let out a loud yell as he crashed all the way to the floor.

“Eh?” Shanks’ voice came over the line, “Was that Buggy? Are you with Buggy?!”

“Gotta go!” Onyx exclaimed.

She slammed down the receiver, glaring at the snail as it smiled widely at her before falling into its ‘off’ sleep.

“Oh therrrrrre you are, you flashy woman,” Buggy had gathered himself and was staggering down the hall.

Onyx quirked an eyebrow at the flush in his cheeks and the glassiness of his eyes.

“It isn’t even dark yet, Sensei,” she sighed, “I thought you could hold your liquor.”

Buggy sent her a blurry glare.

“Shut up!” he thrust a white-gloved hand in her face, “And it is dark! The sun set half an hour ago!”

Onyx blinked. How long had that call been?

Buggy frowned and drew himself up to his full height, which still left him looking up at Onyx.

She couldn’t hide her smirk.

Buggy detached his upper body to gain the needed height to tower over her.

“Who were you talking to?” he asked.

“None of your business!” Onyx snapped.

“It is my business!” the clown waved his arms angrily, “It’s my ship! It’s my transponder snail!”

Onyx rolled her eyes and stepped around him, making her way to the stairs- only to stop as white-gloved fingers wrapped around her wrist.

“Are you leaving?”

Her eyes widened and she turned a cautious stare over her shoulder.

Buggy had reattached himself and was glaring at the ground, his brow was furrowed and his mouth was set in a thin line. His eyes were downcast and Onyx couldn’t make out their expression.

“I was going to get another drink, actually,” she said, shaking her arm.

Buggy loosened his hold and stepped back.

“Oh,” the tension left his shoulders but his glare remained on the floor.

“Hey…” Onyx turned around to face him and crossed her arms over her chest.

She understood their paranoia, she _had_ just up and left last time. But why the hell were they getting so visibly upset about her leaving without saying goodbye?

Was it that important to them?

Onyx fought against the warmth that stirred in her heart as she watched the clown glower at his feet. Even though she tried to deny it, seeing Buggy so out of sorts didn’t sit well with her.

It was probably the screech… yeah…

She gave in to the sudden impulse to lighten his mood.

“Come on, Sensei,” she reached out and grabbed his hand, “I’ve got some presents for you.”

The morning sun broke over the horizon in a blinding display, sparkling across the calm water and lighting the clear azure sky with a gleeful shout.

Onyx winced and screwed her eyes shut.

“Why the hell aren’t the curtains drawn?” she groaned.

“Maybe because there’s no fucking windows? Or ceiling…or walls…” an answering groan sounded from her elbow.

Onyx shifted her head and cracked her eyes open again to see the morning sky above. Her neck gave a painful throb, as did her back.

 _That’s what I get for falling asleep on deck_.

Her grouchy glare settled on a very hungover acrobat as he lay sprawled on the planks next to her.

“Good morning,” she muttered.

“What’s good about it?” Cabaji groaned back and rolled onto his side.

Onyx stifled her smirk and hauled her body up. Her head was pounding, but not as badly as she had expected. She eased herself to her feet and slowly made her way to the kitchen, tiptoeing around the aftermath of last night’s party.

After she had finished her call to Shanks, the Buggy-Alvida Alliance had pulled out a hidden store of rum and continued to celebrate well into the night.

And, to her surprise, Onyx had joined them.

Something she didn’t usually do…

Make that _never_ did.

_What’s gotten into me?_

She slowly made her way down the stairs and pushed through the doors leading to the galley.

 _I needed the distraction from all this Spandam stuff_ , she tried to reason with herself but ended up frowning as she recalled the fiasco of her latest mission.

“You look terrible.”

Onyx glared at the clown sitting cross-legged on the main dining table. His loose hair tumbled around his face in blue waves, swaying with his movement as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his fist.

“I thought you could flashily handle your liquor,” he snickered, rubbing his big red nose with his free hand.

“Shut it, Sensei,” Onyx growled, “I just need some water.”

She stomped over to the sink and grabbed an empty cup from the cupboard. After downing three full glasses, she let out a sigh and turned around.

“Have you reached speaking level now?” Buggy’s tone was still teasing, but something about it betrayed a hidden gentleness.

Onyx could recall a few times when that tone had been the only thing keeping her from jumping overboard and ending it all.

“What’s with that flashy look?” Buggy’s question snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Eh?” she scowled and turned her back to him, refilling her glass again.

“Gyahaha…”

A comfortable silence fell in the galley. Onyx watched the sea through a porthole window above the sink.

The sky was still clear and the wind was brisk.

_An excellent day to sail._

The scratch of paper on paper broke her train of thought and she looked over to see Buggy leafing through some mismatched pieces of parchment.

“Do you like them?” she asked.

Buggy’s eyes lifted to her only for a second before returning to a stained rectangle.

“You’ve gathered quite the collection,” he said, turning the paper over to look at the back.

Onyx recognized the lines and drawings as they turned in her direction.

“That one was particularly hard to acquire,” she said, “The old lady thought it was the map to her dead husband’s remains… it took a while to convince her otherwise. I’d never eaten so many hard-tack biscuits.”

Her expression briefly shifted to disgust and Buggy let out another chuckle.

“Gyahaha, what do you want with so many treasure maps?” he asked.

Onyx dropped her gaze.

“Nothing,” she grunted, “They’re yours now.”

Buggy stiffened.

“You were serious?” he asked, “I thought that was just your flashy drunken rambling.”

Onyx rolled her eyes.

“Why the hell would I waste my precious time chasing after some stupid treasure the might not even be there?” she scoffed.

Buggy’s expression soured and he gave her a glare.

“More for me then,” he muttered, turning his attention back to the maps in his hands.

“That was the point,” Onyx sighed under her breath.

“Eh?” Buggy grunted.

“Nothing!” she snapped, “Where’s your damn cook? I’m starving.”

“So, are you off to get Straw Hat’s head?” Onyx asked, “There are only a few islands he could have gone on to after Jaya.”

Buggy grunted and began digging around in the pockets of his cloak. Onyx cocked an eyebrow when he didn’t answer her.

“I’m heading east,” she turned to look toward the horizon, “If you’re headed to same way… maybe we could…”

The rustling stopped.

Onyx’s cheeks flushed. She was actively avoiding looking at Buggy, but she could feel his disbelieving stare boring into the side of her face.

She couldn’t blame him though. She usually hated having company.

_Geez, what is wrong with me?_

She didn’t like this feeling of wanting people around… she’d thought she’d killed that part of her long ago.

Buggy cleared his throat.

“Actually, I hear there’s a cave full of treasure around here,” his eyes glinted as he took out one of the maps she’d given him last night, “I can afford to make a little detour. Straw Hat can wait.”

Onyx smiled.

“Alright, Sensei,” she sighed, “Just be careful. The Marines have increased their presence in this area. They built a new Fort on Mal Island last year.”

“Yeah, yeah,” the clown waved his hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about me. I can handle it.”

Onyx rolled her eyes and swung up onto the rail.

“I’ll be seeing you then, Buggy-sensei,” she smirked over her shoulder, lifting her hand in a wave, “See ya, Cabaji, Mohji.”

A low growl from behind her brought a softer smile onto her face.

“Keep outta trouble Richie,” she turned to ruffle the lion’s mane.

“Safe travels, Onyx,” Cabaji smiled from behind his scarf.

“We’ll see you later,” Mohji said as he tried to pull Richie back from the rail.

Onyx nodded her head, hiding her eyes under the wide brim of her hat.

“You too,” she said shortly.

She fiddled with the rope securing the Dodger to the pirate ship until it came undone.

Was it just her, or was the knot tighter than usual?

“Onyx,” Buggy’s hand came down lightly on her shoulder, “It was good to see you.”

Her cheeks betrayed her and Onyx had to turn away to hide the embarrassed flush.

“You too…” she mumbled again.

Then she jumped over the side, landing on the Dodger and yanking the sail open.

The little boat sped away to the east, and the woman who sailed it didn’t look back.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

"I didn't think she _could_ smile," Mohji said, looking into the water for a few moments before he followed Richie toward the kitchen.

“She couldn’t… back then,” Buggy’s reply was too late for the beast tamer to hear.

Cabaji remained at the rail, watching his captain stare after the retreating figure on the horizon.

"We'll see her again," the acrobat said, keeping his voice low so any nearby crew wouldn't hear.

Buggy’s eyes dropped to the deck, then he shot Cabaji a glare.

“That depends on her,” he grunted.

He turned and swept off to his throne, waving an old faded map over his head.

“Come on men! There’s treasure awaiting!”


	13. This is Why We Have Rules

Enies Lobby was a buzz of activity. It was obvious even at this distance.

Onyx saw the sea train pull away from the platform as the Dodger bobbed toward the ‘Never-Night Island’.

Through the small scope of her spyglass, she watched a crowd disappear through the main gate and up the dusty path toward the Courtyard.

Her eyes narrowed as she made out the familiar outlines of two Galley-La foremen and a certain secretary and bartender.

But it was the two figures being herded along in the center of this group that made her frown.

“So Nico Robin’s luck finally ran out…” she muttered.

_But what was she doing in Water 7?...And why is Franky there?_

Onyx lowered her spyglass and paused in thought.

Her gut was telling her not to be obvious in her return.

CP-9’s entrance was a perfect distraction. She would sneak ashore immediately.

Onyx nudged the Flying Dodger toward the large iron fence that barricaded the entire island, making sure to keep out of the line of sight of the watchtower set up to guard the sea train tracks. Then she secured her beloved boat to one of the rungs and hopped out. Her boots splashed into the salty water, slipping a bit on the muddy ground underneath, and the current immediately began tugging at her legs, trying to pull her into the hungry maw of emptiness that gaped beyond the fence.

Onyx had taken one step when she heard the telltale “ _purupurupuru_ ” call out from the cabin.

With a tired sigh, she hauled herself back aboard and snatched the bronze snail from the table before hurrying out again.

“Hello?” she snapped as she picked up the receiver.

“It’s Davon.”

Her eyebrow quirked and she leapt over the rail once again, landing with a lively splash. She hadn’t heard from this contact in a little over three years.

There was only one reason he would be calling her though…

“You saw something?”

“Someone’s been on Kelpie’s Shoal.”

Onyx’s eyes narrowed and she jerked to a halt, resting her shoulder against the Dodger’s hull.

“Are you sure?”

“One of ma boys spotted two people there yesterday. They weren’t lookin’ round or anythin’. Probably shipwrecked. And they were gone by mornin’. But ya said to let ya know if we ever saw anyone there.”

Onyx let out her breath and nodded to no one.

“Alright, thanks. I was thinking of stopping by soon anyway.”

“Oi! Don’t go stickin’ yer nose around ma place!” came the snappy reply, “People’ll start talkin’ again and I don’t want none of that! We only just started gettin’ the old customers back. We don’t need the past brought up again.”

Onyx frowned and started wading toward the prow.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry, my lips are still sealed. And they’ll stay that way as long as you keep an eye on Kelpie’s Shoal for me.”

“Mm.”

_*click*_

Onyx sighed at the sleeping snail before stuffing it into her pocket.

“Stay safe, baby,” she mumbled, giving the Dodger a pat as she walked away, “I’ve got a feeling they won’t be happy to see me…”

She waded along the fence until she reached the sea train tracks, grimacing at the queasy weakness that always accompanied the touch of the sea.

The gate remained firmly closed, barring all entrance by ship or sea train unless opened by a guard stationed on the island.

Onyx stepped up onto the metal rails and dug into her pockets, pulling out a thin chain. With deft hands, she formed a lasso and threw it up to snag one of the spikes that adorned the top of the fence.

After a few hearty tugs, she pulled herself up and over, landing with another splash on the tracks on other side.

The look-out saw her approaching and came to meet her on the sea train platform, but it only took a fleeting touch of her hand to convince him he had seen nothing and that he should go take a nap.

“-it was disgusting.”

Onyx paused outside of a door as she heard a familiar voice.

“I told you not to eat them!” Jabra’s reply was an agitated growl, “You’re cursed now until you die!”

“Have you forgotten that both you and I have already eaten devil fruits?” That was Lucci’s suave tone, “I’m not surprised. A mutt is always so easily distracted.”

“SHUT YOUR TRAP YOU MANGY CAT!” Jabra shouted.

A loud verbal spat ensued.

Onyx pursed her lips.

Great, now she had more devil fruit eaters to deal with.

This was a shitty situation all around.

“Bah!” Spandam’s greasy scoff made her shiver in disgust, “Will you quit your complaining! Only the strongest agents are seen as worthy enough to be given devil fruits. The government has finally seen how useful I am. They’ve even given me the power to make a Buster Call!”

Onyx felt the blood drain from her face.

A Buster Call?! In Spandam’s hands?! Did those bastards in Mary Geoise _want_ this island destroyed?!

She clenched her fists

She wouldn’t put it passed them, actually…

This was the shittiest of shitty situations.

_Alright then, let’s get my money and get out of here as fast as possible._

She pushed the door open, making it slam back on its hinges.

“Hello, Spandam, _dear_ ,” she pulled a sickening smile onto her lips.

The entirety of CP-9 stood before her. Their captives, the ex-Baroque Works agent and the ship dismantler, were currently chained up and sitting on a couch off to the side.

“Eh?” Spandam looked up from his seat at a desk, then his jaw dropped and his eyes practically popped out of his skull, “Bl-Black Heart?!? Where did you come from?! How did you get in here?!”

Onyx’s smile fell into a sneer.

“Long time no see,” her eyes flit from agent to agent, and then around the room.

There were three thick-panned windows along the far wall, each looking out onto the gap between the Tower of Justice and the Courthouse. She wouldn’t be able to escape through there.

She stayed where she was.

“That last job was a doozy,” her eyes returned to the purple haired swamp rat and an iciness crept into her glare, “But I managed to pull it off and find out what you wanted, Spandam. _Dear_.”

He gulped.

Onyx relished the fear in his bloodshot eyes.

“The Kid Pirates knew nothing. But you were already aware of that,” she held out her hand, “I’ll take the rest of my payment now.”

Spandam gawked at her like the complete imbecile he was.

The agents finally shifted.

Lucci stepped forward, a smile on those deadly lips.

“Hello, Onyx,” he bowed his head, “Have you come to collect?”

She frowned and her hands drifted down to hang by her sides, one finger twitch away from the holsters at her hips.

“What, no nickname this time?” she mused, eyeing him carefully.

Jabra stiffened.

“Nickname? What nickname?!” he growled, looking frantically between Onyx and Lucci, “Collect what?!”

Onyx ignored the irritated wolf man and turned her stare into a glare.

The rest of the agents watched in tense silence.

Kalifa adjusted her glasses and Kumadori gave an exaggerated frown.

Kaku stood sullenly beside the grinning Fukuro.

Blueno watched her with a blank stare. Onyx had always had trouble reading the quiet bartender.

“Don’t think you can get a willing kiss from me that easily,” she moved her attention back to Lucci.

“WHAT?!” Jabra roared.

Lucci smirked.

“You are quite a challenge,” he purred, “I appreciate it.”

Onyx rolled her eyes and then turned them on Nico Robin.

The Devil Child was watching the scene with a blank expression that couldn’t quite hide the intense fear simmering just under the surface.

“And how did you end up in this grease-ball’s clutches?” Onyx asked.

Robin just stared back at her.

“She joined up with the Straw Hat Pirates in order to escape Alabasta,” Lucci said, “She used her own freedom as the bargaining chip to ensure the pirates will not be captured at Water 7.”

Onyx’s eyes narrowed.

Nico Robin had successfully evaded the government for twenty years. And she had _turned herself in_? Simply to ensure that some _pirates_ could leave Water 7 safely?

“Well I hope your sacrifice was worth it,” she muttered, digging her baffled stare into the other woman.

Robin returned her stare and Onyx’s chest tightened as she recognized the look that flashed across those elegant features.

“Of course,” Robin said.

Anger sparked in Onyx’s gut. Anger at Robin. At CP-9. At the Government. At the world.

“You know that the Marines would likely just wait until the Straw Hats sailed away from Water 7 and simply capture them then?” she snapped, “They have a way of taking what they want regardless of their promises.”

Robin’s eyes widened and her calm mask cracked.

Onyx almost choked when, without warning, she got pulled in by those icy blue pools of hurt and persecution. The anger in Onyx’s stomach swirled and suddenly she was filled with a desire to lay waste to whoever had forced such a defeated and suffering expression on this ex-assassin.

_What the fuck?!_

But then Robin did something that surprised Onyx, chasing this strange and unwelcome feeling away and replacing it with astonishment.

Robin shook her head and took a calming breath.

“As long as they don’t face a Buster Call, Luffy will beat whoever stands in his way,” she said with conviction, “With me no longer part of that crew, my darkness will not follow them anymore.”

Onyx tilted her head to the side, taking great care to keep her expression neutral.

What was it about that boy…? … Straw Hat Luffy…

She forced her gaze over to Franky.

“And what did you do to get yourself arrested?” she cocked an eyebrow at the dismantler.

“Don’t worry about me, Sister. They think I have something important despite me telling them they got the wrong guy,” the flamboyant cyborg managed his trademark grin for a moment before a serious frown overtook it, “Don’t tell me you’re working for these assholes?”

Onyx let out a sigh and shrugged.

“I work for whoever will pay my price,” she said, “Speaking of which.”

She turned her attention back to Spandam and held out her hand again.

“My money.”

Spandam hesitated.

He really knew how to kill her patience.

“Now!” Onyx snarled.

The idiot jumped up and scurried out of the room.

“Why can’t we ever get him to listen so well,” Kalifa sighed.

“Because he’s our boss. He doesn’t have to listen to us,” Kaku finally spoke.

Onyx turned her attention to the frowning long-nosed man.

“Hello, Kaku,” she said slowly.

He sent her a quick glance and nodded.

“Miss Onyx,” he said curtly.

She stared at him for a moment, squinting her eyes slightly. He returned her stare blankly.

“Such a serious face doesn’t look good on you,” she hummed.

Kaku blinked and his lips parted.

But whatever he’d been about to say was drowned out in a sudden clamour of marching feet.

Onyx whirled around to see Marine soldiers filing into the room. Her lips twisted into a snarl as she was encircled and the muzzles of guns and the tips of swords were pointed right at her head.

“What the hell?!” she exclaimed.

“Arrest her!” Spandam came sauntering into view.

Onyx’s glare fixed on him and his bravado immediately faltered and he winced.

“On what grounds?!” she demanded.

“For betraying the World Government and feeding information to pirates and revolutionaries!”

Onyx’s teeth clenched in fury.

“I don’t work for the government or for pirates! I work for myself!”

_Shit!_

Her eyes flew around the room. She was still within reach of the door, but now a circle of Marines three rows deep surrounded her on all sides.

“Oi, oi,” Jabra stepped forward, “Is this really necessary?”

“Shut up!” Spandam shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Onyx, “She’s too dangerous to be allowed to walk around freely! She has knowledge of the ancient weapons! That alone is enough grounds for arrest!”

Onyx stiffened as the soldiers closed in.

For a brief moment, her eyes moved through the crowd and landed on Franky. His face had paled and beads of sweat were peppering his brow. He returned her stare with one of apprehension and fear.

Onyx gave the slightest shake of her head.

_Don’t worry, Metal Man. I won’t be the one to start that fire._

She let out a growl and plunged her hand into a deep pocket. She hadn’t wanted to use this so soon, but this was the exact kind of situation she’d acquired it for.

She hadn’t survived this long in her line of work on sweet lies alone.

“Hang on there, Spandam, dear,” she withdrew a roll of parchment and brandished it toward him, “I don’t think you want to be doing that.”

“Eh? What’s that?” he grunted.

A Marine took the paper from her and unrolled it.

“This document guarantees Onyx safe passage from the island on which it was signed, being Enies Lobby, and the surrounding waters. It’s signed by you, Spandam, sir,… and it’s sealed by the World Government!”

“What?!” a chorus of astounded gasps rippled around the room.

The swords and guns pointing at her head were hesitantly lowered.

Onyx smirked.

“It was a lot of trouble to get those, but they do come in handy,” she said as Spandam stormed forward and snatched the paper, “It isn’t a fake. If you hinder my departure in any way you’ll be breaking a WG covenant. You don’t want that, do you? The penalty is death, no matter who you are.”

Spandam grit his teeth in an unsuccessful attempt to smother his rage. His livid eyes fixed on Onyx and she relished the satisfaction of having him backed into a corner.

“How did you get this?” he hissed.

Onyx’s smirk grew.

“Trade secret,” she hummed, “Now please, give me my money and I’ll be out of your greasy hair.”

“Grrrr! Fine!” Spandam scowled thunderously and stomped back to his desk, retrieving an envelope from a drawer.

Onyx cocked an eyebrow.

Kaku took the envelope and walked calmly through the group of soldiers still surrounding her. They parted and stepped back, giving her some space as she counted up the correct amount and nodded.

The way to the door was now clear.

Time to leave.

“My thanks for your generous payment,” Onyx sneered around Kaku at Spandam, “I’m sure you could have used some of this to cover the costs you undoubtedly racked up while capturing those two.” She tilted her head to the couch.

Spandam scowled but Lucci spoke before he could answer.

“The pirates will be blamed for all the damages to the Galley-La offices.”

Onyx stiffened.

_Galley-La offices?_

Her gut clenched and her eyes narrowed.

Kaku’s expression flickered briefly as he saw her reaction.

Onyx caught his momentary lapse. Her heart skipped a beat and the question rose unbidden to her lips.

“Is Paulie okay?”

Kaku frowned and lowered his gaze.

Onyx’s stomach dropped to her feet.

_No._

“It was unfortunate,” Lucci’s eyes prickled over her skin, but she was still staring at Kaku, “He was a stubborn one. The weak never know when to back down.”

…

She hadn’t been lying when she’d said all those things Buggy had been spouting about her were rumours.

They were rumours because her anger never left any witnesses.

…

Onyx’s face paled and a chill ran through her body. Her eyes sparked and burned with an untamed fire.

Kaku’s fists clenched at his sides, but he met her glare calmly enough.

“Miss Onyx?”

…

She’d warned them.

She’d told Kaku to keep an eye on Lucci. She’d told them to stay away from Paulie.

Her fists clenched and she took in a shaky breath.

 _Come on, don’t cause a fuss_ , her brain said, _just take your money and go. They’re the fucking World Government._

_…_

_You went and got attached_ , her heart squeezed as she admitted the truth, _They hurt Paulie._

Her shoulders set and her hands relaxed.

_Hurt._

_Them._

_Back._

Her arm moved on its own. She watched calmly as it reached into her coat and pulled out a filthy bundle of rags. The hand towel unrolled to reveal three knives. An iridescent rainbow glittered over the blades edges.

“Hey! What are you doing?!” Spandam exclaimed, cowering behind his desk, “Stop her-!”

_*shing!*_

His lips clamped closed as a poison tipped blade sliced through the air and embedded in the stone wall behind him.

Silence fell in the room and all eyes fixed on the knife still wobbling where it had struck.

“Tch!” Onyx glared at Lucci.

The agent lowered the foot he’d just used to knock the knife off its trajectory, his thick boot protecting him from the deadly Velvet Night.

“You’re certainly worked up, aren’t you, Black Heart,” he said, “You realize you’ve just attacked an agent of the government. That nullifies your covenant.”

She did realize that. Her brain was screaming at her in anger and frustration.

But she couldn’t change her mind now.

The smirk on Lucci’s lips should have been enough to shatter her resolve.

But it wasn’t.

Instead of turning tail and escaping with her life and her money, Onyx found her feet cemented to the floor. Her fingers tingled as they clenched the hilts of her newly acquired knives.

Paulie’s face, his cheeks lightly dusted with pink and a cigar clenched between his smiling lips, flashed before her eyes.

Against her better judgement, against her instincts, and against her own rules, Onyx squared her stance.

“Alright boys,” she glared at the soldiers surrounding her, “Say your prayers now.”

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Lucci’s dark eyes followed the maelstrom of fury that was Black Heart Onyx as she tore through the Marines trying to restrain her.

They trembled and fell like leaves before a hurricane.

It was hard to believe these men were the top recruits in their respective classes. They couldn’t even contain a single woman.

But then again… this woman couldn’t be contained.

Lucci’s hungry gaze lingered on the vicious snarl on her lips and the cold rage, and was that… pain?, in her burning eyes.

Her outburst of raw emotion was sudden.

Violent.

Devastating.

And utterly magnificent.

Lucci grinned and plunged headlong into the storm that captured all who were left in her wake.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Another man fell under her poisoned blades, writhing in painful agony for the few moments he had left in this world.

Onyx dodged an incoming saber and used one knife to knock the barrel of a gun off its target, which had been her face.

Then a blast of power hit her right in the chest. She tumbled back and rolled until her shoulder hit a stone wall.

Biting back a hiss of pain, Onyx leapt to her feet to see a partially transformed Lucci looming over her.

“You certainly have a way of proving my expectations wrong,” the leopard licked his lips, “Such a fascinating woman...”

“Eh?” Onyx snapped.

Lucci was quiet, his dark eyes travelling over her body.

Onyx’s mind raced. Her eyes widened as she recalled their last conversation.

_“This isn’t goodbye.” “I’m afraid it will be.”_

_“You may return that if we ever meet again.”_

Her lips twisted and she lifted the knives.

“I guess I’m full of surprises,” she snarled.

Her arm lunged out.

She just needed the tip the pierce his skin. The smallest cut would ensure her victory.

She hadn’t been lying when she’d said all those things Buggy had been spouting about her were rumours.

They were rumours because her anger never left any witnesses.

But Onyx was always careful to only choose fights she knew she could win.

Or at least, she _had been_ careful…

She _had been_ smart...

But she wasn’t as cold as she used to be…

The knives were knocked out of her hands before she even knew Lucci had moved to attack.

She staggered under the first blow he landed, and crumpled under the second. The third had her pinned to the ground with clawed fingers wrapped around her throat.

Her hat slipped off her head, her hair spilling over the hard tiles in a black halo. Lucci’s eyes widened slightly as he leaned over her.

“You’re blonde?” he smirked.

Onyx’s breath caught in her throat.

_Shit!_

She’d forgotten to touch up her roots!

“You disapprove?” she snapped, glaring her frustration into those feline eyes.

Lucci licked his lips and bent down.

“I approve wholeheartedly,” his breath fanned her cheeks, “It’s a pity you just gave up your freedom. I know I would have had some fun with you."

Fear crept into Onyx as she squirmed under the giant leopard.

“All this simply because we roughed up a carpenter?” Kaku appeared at the edge of her vision, staring down at her, “You really do care for him, don’t you?”

Onyx’s eyes flashed.

“There are precious few honest people in this world,” she growled, “I can’t help it if I want to protect them!”

Her eyes widened as the words left her mouth, but she couldn’t bite them back now.

“Wahaha! Tie her up!” Spandam guffawed from across the room, “We’ll send her to Impel Down along with these two traitors!”

Onyx’s blood froze in her veins.

_Impel Down?!_

“No!” she couldn’t bite back her gasp of fear.

How had this gone so wrong so fast?

She was supposed to just get her money and leave.

A faceless soldier appeared and shackled her wrists in handcuffs. Only then did Lucci removed his claws from her throat, letting them trail over her skin, leaving faint red lines around her neck.

Onyx suppressed her shudder and felt another pair of hands on her shoulders, pushing her up to a sitting position.

Her eyes fell to her wrists and she blinked in confusion. Her strength wasn’t ebbing away. She lifted the cuffs and stared at them.

_These aren’t made of sea prism stone._

She silently thanked herself for all the work she’d put into keeping her devil fruit a secret.

“Come on, Babydoll,” Jabra shifted his grip on her shoulders and started pulling her to her feet, “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

The realization that the lack of sea prism stone didn’t matter dawned. There were way too many people here. She couldn’t touch all of them in time to make the lie believable.

“Screw that!” Onyx twisted away and fell hard on her side.

“Bwahahaha! As soon as you’re faced with your crimes you turn into a coward,” Spandam leered at her, “You’re pathetic!”

Onyx tuned out his annoying babbling. She had a much more pressing matter to deal with.

“Alright, let’s go,” Spandam finished his belittling and ordered everyone towards the Gates of Justice.

Onyx was dragged in line behind Franky as the procession began filing out into the hall.

_No no nonononono!_

What could she do? How could she escape?

Her eyes flew around the room.

If she could get to the windows, through the swarm of soldiers, past the entirety of elite CP-9 agents, then she could jump out.

And right into a bottomless abyss.

_Fuck!_

_Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!_

Her senses were going haywire. She could actually feel her brain heating up as she tried to come up with a way to get out of this mess.

The image of cold walls and dark cells rose up in her mind’s eye and she shivered violently.

No!

She refused to be put behind bars again!

She knew if she allowed herself to get carted off to prison… that would be the end. She would break.

She would go crawling back to… him…

_What should I do?!_

_Whatshouldidowhatshouldidowhatshouldido?!_

Her instincts kicked in and her mouth opened.

“It was a lie!”

Her voice rose and it was as if a ripple passed through the room. All the men escorting her, as well as the agents of CP-9 and the two other prisoners, jerked to a halt.

There was a moment’s pause.

And then all attention focused on Onyx.

She frowned and stared at all the faces turned to her. All the faces that were clouding with doubt and uncertainty…

She knew that expression…

It was the way a person looked when they were coming under the influence of her devil fruit…

Onyx took a careful breath and opened her mouth again, barely daring to hope that this would work.

“I didn’t try to kill Spandam. He doesn’t want to arrest me,” she struggled to keep her voice calm, “You just gave me my money and are now going off to do whatever you had been doing before I got here.”

A heavy silence coated the scene.

Onyx stared as expressions began to shift and eyes began to blink back to reality.

“Eh?” Spandam shook his head, “What the hell?”

Most of CP-9 were now looking questioningly between him and Onyx.

“Uh, what was I saying?” the look of confusion on the swamp rat’s face was quite amusing.

Onyx stared, trying to hide her astonishment.

_It actually worked?!_

The sudden tramp of footsteps preceded a lone soldier marching through the door.

“Spandam, sir! There are reports of intruders on the island!”

“What?! There’s no way! Let’s get to the balcony!” Spandam sped out of the room.

The rest of CP-9 followed, dragging Robin and Franky with them.

“See you around then, Doll,” Jabra gave her a short wave before he disappeared out the door.

“I suppose we can settle our exchange at another time,” Lucci stopped and glanced back at her, “Doesn’t Black Heart always settle her debts?”

Onyx tried to summon her usual glare, but found it difficult to gather her energy all of a sudden.

“I owe you nothing,” she spat.

Lucci simply smirked and vanished out the door.

Onyx was left on her own.

She stared around her in disbelief.

_Oh my god… did I just awaken my devil fruit powers?_

She shook her head.

_No time to think about that now. I have to get out of here._

But the movement caused her vision to start spinning and her knees to buckle.

“What?...”

Onyx managed two steps forward before her body collapsed on the hard stone.

_No…_

Her vision tunneled and she spun into darkness.


End file.
